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I 



SCRIPTURE 
NATURAL HISTORY: 

CONTAINING 

A DESCRIPTION OF QUADRUPEDS, BIRDS, REPTILES, AMPHIBIA, 
FISHES, INSECTS, MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS, CORALS, 
PLANTS, TREES, PRECIOUS STONES, 
AND METALS, 

MENTIONED IN THE 

HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

ILLUSTRATED BY ENGRAVINGS. 

REPRINTED FROM THE EDITION OF THE LONDON RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 

1845. 



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6 



Gift 
Mrs. Hennen Jennings 
April 26, 1D3S 



Printed by 
Wm. S. Martien. 



CONTENTS. 

Page 
Introductory Observations, 1 

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM, 3 

Class I. — Quadrupeds, 3 

Class II. — Birds, 72 

Class III. — Reptiles and Amphibia, 109 

Class IV. — Fishes, 129 

Class V. — Insects, 134 

Class VI. — Molluscous Animals, 1 63 

Class VII.— Corals, 168 

THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM, 170 

Forest Trees, 215 

Fruit Trees, 232 

THE INORGANIC KINGDOM, 249 

Precious Stones 250 

Metals, 265 

Concluding Remarks, 267 



I N D E X, 



A. 

Page 

Adamant 253 

Adder 120 

Agate 253 

Alabaster 257 

Algum 211 

Almond 244 

Almug 211 

Aloes 211 

Amber 264 

Amethyst 253 

Anise 179 

Ant 148 

Antelope 55 

Apes 4 

Apple 243 

Apples of Sodom ^ . . . 1 89 

Ash 226 

Asp 121 

Ass 38 

Ass, Wild 36 

B. 

Baboon 5 

Badger 31 

Balm 204 

Balsam 204 

Barbary Ape 6 

Barley 171 

Basilisk 120 

Bats 8 

Beans 173 

Bear 31 

Bee 142 

Beetle 141 

Behemoth 59 

Beryl 254 

Bitter Herbs 176 

Bittern , 101 



Page 

Box 222 

Bramble 201 

Brass 274 

Brimstone 263 

Broom 185 

Buccinum 164 

C. 

Cachalot 69 

Calamus 199 

Camel 39 

Camphire 204 

Cankerworm 139 

Carbuncle 252 

Carob 218 

Cassia 210 

Caterpillar 139 

Cedar 227 

Cerastes 120 

Chalcedony 255 

Chameleon 114 

Chamois 56 

Chetah 22 

Chimpanzee 5 

Chrysolite 256 

Chrysoprasus 256 

Cinnamon 209 

Citron 243 

Clay 257 

Cock 92 

Cockatrice 120 

Cobra di Capello 122 

Coney 9 

Copper 274 

Coral 168 

Coriander 179 

Cormorant 107 

Corn 171 

Cotton 173 



VI 



INDEX. 



Pare 

Cow 43 

Crane 99 

Crocodile 109 

Cucumbers 176 

Cummin 179 

Cypress 224 

D. 

Daman 9 

Deer 55 

Derrias 5 

Diamond 253 

Dog 25 

Dog-fly 154 

Dove 96 

Dragon 112 

Dziggtai 36 

E. 

Eagle 74 

Ebony 212 

Elephant 64 

Emerald 252 

Entellus 4 

F. 

Falcon, Peregrine 81 

Fallow Deer 55 

Fig 239 

Fir 226 

Fish Hawk 77 

Fitches 178 

Flax 174 

Flea 154 

Fly 150 

Fowl, Domestic 92 

Fox 26 

Frankincense 206 

Frog 125 

Fullers' earth 258 

G. 

Galbanum 206 

Gall 192 

Garlick 175 

Gazelle 56 

Gecko 113 

Gier Eagle 78 



Page 

Gnat 152 

Goat . 51 

Gold 266 

Gopher-wood 224 

Gourd, Wild 186 

Grub 134 

H. 

Hare 10 

Hart 55 

Hawk 80 

, Night 83 

Heifer 46 

Hemlock 194 

Heron 100 

Hippopotamus 59 

Hog 57 

Honey 145 

Hoopoe 90 

Hornet 146 

Horse 33 

Horseleech 160 

Hyena 27 

Hyssop 183 

I. 

Ibex 53 

Ibis 104 

Iron 265 

J. 

Jacinth 256 

Jackal 26 

Jocko 5 

Jerboa 12 

Jasper 255 

Juniper 185 

K. 

Kalong 8 

Kermes 135 

Kite, orGlede 79 

L. 

Lapwing 86 

Larch 226 

Lead 266 



INDEX. 



Vll 



Page 

Leeks 175 

Lentiles 172 

Leopard 21 

, Hunting 22 

Leviathan 109 

Lice 151 

Lign Aloes 211 

Ligure 253 

Lily 202 

Limestone 257 

Lion 15 

Lizards 113 

Locust 136 

M. 

Magot 6 

Man 3 

Mandrakes 188 

Marble 256 

Melons 176 

Millet 172 

Mint 179 

Mole 13 

Monkeys 4 

Moth 134 

Mouse 12 

Mulberry 243 

Mule 38 

Murex 1 64 

Mustard 181 

Myrrh 205 

Myrtle 224 

N. 

Nettle 186 

Nitre . .- 253 

Nuts 220 

O. 

Oak 216 

Olive 237 

Onions 175 

Onycha 206 

Onyx 254 

Ospray 77 

Ossifrage 77 

Ostrich 98 

Ourang Outang 5 

Owl 81 



Page 
Ox 43 

Oyster, Pearl 165 

P. 

Palm 246 

Palmer-worm 140 

Partridge 94 

Peacock 91 

Pearl 165 

Pelican 105 

Pigeon 96 

Pine 225 

Pitch 261 

Plane tree 220 

Pomegranate 245 

Pygarg 56 

Q. 

Quail 95 

R. 

Raven 87 

Reed 198 

Rhinoceros 66 

River Horse 59 

Roebuck 56 

Rose 202 

Rue 179 

S. 

Saffron 209 

Salmon 131 

Salt 259 

Sand Martin 87 

Sapphire 252 

Sardius 252 

Sardonyx 255 

Scorpion 158 

Serpent . 116 

Sesamum 179 

Shaphan 9 

Sheep 47 

Shittim 213 

Silver 266 

Sittah 213 

Sittim 213 

Slunk 115 

Snail 163 



Vlll 



I^DEX. 



Page 

Soap . 258 

Spalax 13 

Sparrow, Common House . 84 

Spice 207 

Spider 154 

Spikenard 209 

Stacte 206 

Storax ■ 207 

Stork -. 102 

Sulphur 263 

Swallow 86 

Swan 108 

Sycamore 241 

T. 

Tamarisk 219 

Tares 195 

Terebinth 215 

Thistles 200 

Thorns 200 

Topaz 252 

Turpentine 215 



U. 

Page 

Unicorn 67 

V. 

Vine 232 

Vinegar 236 

Viper 121 

Vulture 78 

W. 

Walnut 220 

Whale 63 

Wheat 171 

Whelk 163 

Willow 221 

Wolf 23 

Worm 135 

Wormwood 184 

Z. 

Zinc 267 



SCRIPTURE 
NATURAL HISTOEY. 



««*///i///w 



INTBODUCTOKY OBSERVATIONS. 

This work is designed to direct the attention of the 
reader to the productions of that land where the 
Saviour lived, and his apostles taught, and where 
Abraham, David, Isaiah, and Amos testified of Jeho- 
vah. Since the days of the apostles, this land has 
been laid waste by war, and by famine, war's fre- 
quent attendant. Jerusalem, in fulfilment of our Sa- 
viour's prediction, was destroyed by Titus ; Judea 
was ravaged by the Romans, and long held by that 
people as a conquered province. After the fall of 
the Roman empire, it was held by the Saracens, and 
became the theatre of the Crusades. It now forms 
part of the Turkish empire; and the debasing super- 
stition of Mohammed prevails where Christ came 
to suffer and die for the sins of the world, and thus 
open the kingdom of heaven to those who unfeign- 
edly believe in his merits and sacrifice. 

Great as the changes in the moral, social, and 
religious condition of a country may be, its general 
aspect and its productions (unless influenced by cer- 
tain causes) continue the same. Thus, in Judea, 
the same animals, plants, and minerals, the same 
natural productions exist as in the days of king 

2 



Z SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

Solomon, of whom we read, that "he spake of trees, 
from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the 
hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also 
of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and 
of fishes." 1 Kings iv. 33. 

The natural history of every country is interesting ; 
but our readers will surely think that of a country 
where holy men of old both wrote and spoke, as in- 
spired by the Holy Spirit, where God displayed so 
many miracles, and where our Saviour dwelt when 
he took upon himself the form of a servant, to be 
peculiarly attractive. Indeed, the force of many allu- 
sions, the propriety and beauty of many passages, 
cannot be fully appreciated unless we are acquainted 
with the habits, instincts, or real character of the na- 
tural objects referred to. Examples in point abound 
in the book of Job, and many in other portions of 
Sacred Writ will no doubt occur to the mind of the 
reader. 

The whole assemblage of visible objects belonging 
to the earth may be arranged under three grand di- 
visions, often called kingdoms, namely, the animal, 
the vegetable, and the inorganic kingdoms. Each 
of these kingdoms is again subdivided into secondary 
sections, classes, orders, and genera. Genera com- 
prehend those species that closely agree with each 
other, as the tiger and the leopard, the raven and the 
crow, etc. By means of classification, the labour of 
becoming acquainted with a vast number of natural 
objects is rendered easier than it otherwise would be, 
and their characters are more readily remembered. 
The design, however, of this work is not to follow 
out minute subdivisions, nor to display, according to 
strict systematic arrangements, the objects of either 
the animal, vegetable, or inorganic kingdom. We 
take a far different ground; our purpose is to interest 
while we instruct the reader, and to afford him, in a 
plain and simple manner, some insight into Scripture 
Natural History. 



THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



CLASS I.-QUADRUPEDS: 

Animals that breathe air, and suckle their young: 
hence termed by naturalists Mammalia. 

At the head of class I. stands Man, the monarch of 
creation, an intelligent and rational being, with a soul 
destined for immortality. The Holy Scriptures give 
us his natural history. In them we learn the most 
important facts connected with his creation; there 
we gain full information respecting God's purposes 
towards him, respecting his physical, moral, and spi- 
ritual condition, and ultimate destiny. His fall from 
a state of original purity, and the plan of redemption, 
by which alone he can become reconciled to God, 
are there fully revealed, with all that relates to his 
present and eternal happiness. 

We must, however, proceed to the lower orders, 
to creatures far below man, because they are tm gift- 
ed with an immortal soul, and, consequently, are 
neither rational nor accountable. 

The Mammalia, it must be observed, though most- 
ly terrestrial, that is tenanting the ground, are not 
exclusively restricted to hills, valleys, rocks, and 
woods; some are aquatic in their habits, and roam 
through the waters of the great deep, their birthplace 
and their home. Such are the whales and gram- 
puses, often considered as fishes, but which in reali- 
ty belong to the present class. Again, some of the 
Mammalia fly like birds, and give chase through the 
realms of air to their insect prey. Such are the bats, 
which by many have been looked upon as birds, or 
as creatures between the bird and beast, but which 
resemble the bird in no respect save that of being 
formed for flight. Thus, then, of Mammalia there 
are terrestrial, aquatic, and aerial. 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



APES. 

Order.— Quadrumana, or Four-handed Animals. 




THE ENTELLUS. 

Apes, or monkeys, are mentioned among the animals 
brought in king Solomon's vessels to Palestine from 
Ophir, a country not definitely known. The words 
translated apes and peacocks ( 1 Kings x. 22 ; 2 Chron. 
ix. 21) seem to be originally Indian, for they are both 
found in the Sanscrit language. The kinds of apes 
and monkeys are very numerous; as to size, some 
are no larger than squirrels, while others, such as the 
ourang-outan, are almost the size of a man. Though 
the notice of these animals occurs only once in the 
Scriptures, it is, nevertheless, most probable that the 
Israelites were acquainted with the kinds found in 
North Africa, Nubia, and Ethiopia, and certain dis- 
tricts of Arabia. Yet it is impossible to say what 
precise species was brought to Jerusalem. As Solo- 
mon was so fond of studying natural history, proba- 
bly many kinds of apes, and other animals, were 
brought to him from foreign parts. Among the more 



APES. 



remarkable of the ape tribe are the ourang-outan. 
the chimpanzee, several baboons, and the magot, of 
which we shall give some account. 

The ourang-outan or wild man, as the name 
means, possesses great muscular strength. It is found 
in the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Its body is 
covered with long coarse hair of a brownish-red, 
but the face and palms of the hands and feet are 
bare; the throat is swollen, the skin being loose and 
folded, and covering a membranous pouch, which 
communicates with the wind-pipe, and extends be- 
low the collar bones. Its arms are very long, so 
that, when standing on its legs, its fingers almost 
touch the ground. Its movement when walking is 
not that of most four-footed animals, nor of man, 
but something between both, as it makes use of its 
long arms as crutches, on which it rests while it 
swings its hinder extremities forward. The structure 
of its limbs is adapted for swinging from tree to tree, 
which it does with surprising address. 

The jocko, or chimpanzee, is a native of Africa, 
and sometimes called the African orang. The hair 
is black, the ears large, the nose flat, the mouth wide, 
the arms shorter, and legs more adapted for sustain- 
ing the body than those of the Indian orang. The 
hair on the fore-arms is long, and directed back to- 
wards the elbows, where it meets the hair that grows 
from the shoulder in an opposite direction, and thus 
forms a kind of ruff. 
. The baboons are, among other particulars, distin- 
guished from other apes by the greater length of the 
face and jaws, and the shape of the muzzle, which 
gives the whole head a close resemblance to that of 
a dog; hence by the Greeks and Romans they were 
called dog-faced monkeys. 

Among these is the derrias: this species inhabit 
the mountains of Arabia and Abyssinia. The face 
is long, bare, and of a dirty flesh-colour, with a lighter 
ring round the eyes; the nostrils, as in the dog, are 
separated by a slight furrow; the head, neck, and 
shoulders, and all the fore-part of the body are co- 



6 BCXIFTUKB NATURAL HISTORr. 

vered with long, shaggy hair: the tail is about half 
the length of the body, and is terminated by a long 
tuft of brown hair. Large troops of them have been 
found in the mountains above the Red Sea. The 
figure of this animal, in a sitting posture, is common 
on the ancient monuments of Egypt and Xubia. 
Small metal images of it have been dug up in the 
ruins of Memphis : and embalmed mummies of the 
animal have also been met with. 

Another quadrumanous (or four-handed) animal, 
evidently a monkey, probably the red monkey, or 
nisnas, a native of Ethiopia, is also found upon the 
sacred monuments of ancient Egypt. The extel- 
et/s is found in Hindostan and the islands of the In- 
dian Archipelago. 

The magot, or barbasy ape, has a large, project- 
ing muzzle, like a dog : its eyes are very near each 
other, and deeply fixed in the head. The brows ex- 
tremely thick, forehead narrow, neck short, and the 
body thick and muscular. It walks awkwardly on 
all-fours, but displays wonderful agility in climbing. 
It puts every thing which it does not know, or of 
which it has any suspicion, to its nose for the purpose 
of smelling it. Its natural inclination to live in docks 
leads it to cherish, as if they were its own young, the 
little animals that are sometimes confined with it. It 
hugs them very carefully, and is excessively pro- 
voked if any one attempts to take them away. Irs 
favourite amusement is cleaning its face from the 
slightest impurities. The average length of this ani- 
mal is about two feet or two feet and a half. 

From the mummies of apes being found among 
the relics of ancient Egypt, as well as from various 
testimonies, we learn that these creatures were there 
held in veneration; and, such is the ignorance and 
blind superstition of the Hindoos, that certain kinds 
of monkeys are worshipped by them as gods. Strange, 
and almost incredible as it may appear, this is the 
case. Temples are built for them, and hospitals pro- 
vided for such as are sick and aged. To kill one of 
them is reckoned a capital offence. In Guzerat they 



APES. 



come in troops into the towns, where rice, millet, 
and fruit are placed before them by the inhabitants. 
Hence, in some districts of India, they not only 
swarm in the woods, but even invade the gardens, 
despoiling them of their most delicate productions. 
Rendered bold by toleration, they resent the slightest 
molestation, and in numbers assail those who incau- 
tiously disturb them. 

The mimicry and grimaces of monkeys render 
them amusing ; and they perform astonishing feats 
of activity in their gambols : they leap from branch 
to branch, and from tree to tree, with remarkable 
ease, their long tails acting as a sort of balancer in 
their movements. In the hotter portions of Ameri- 
ca, monkeys are abundant; and of these many kinds 
have tails capable of grasping the branches, from 
which they may be often seen hanging with the 
head downwards. The natives in many parts of 
South America, as we are assured by travellers, kill 
and eat these animals, having broiled them over a 
fire; and, revolting as the appearance of a broiled 
monkey is stated to be, Europeans travelling in that 
country have been occasionally constrained to par- 
take of this disgusting fare. 

Some of the American monkeys live in vast 
troops, which utter loud yellings as the night comes 
on, and make the gloomy forests resound with their 
cries. It need not be said, that the ancients were 
utterly unacquainted with the American kinds of 
these animals. Amusing as are the ape and mon- 
key tribes generally, from their grimaces and activi- 
ty, they possess no qualities, like the faithful dog, to 
recommend them. They are petulant, cunning, and 
treacherous; and many kinds, as the great baboon, 
are extremely ferocious, and much dreaded by the 
natives of those parts of Africa where they abound. 
That any of these animals should have been wor- 
shipped while alive, and embalmed when dead, may 
excite surprise and horror in the minds of our read- 
ers, but their surprise will be moderated when they 
reflect on the degradation and blindness of human 



8 SCRIPTURE NATURAL niSTORY. 

nature, till elevated and enlightened by the revela- 
tion of God. Let us pity and pray for the heathen 
in darkness. 



BATS. 

Order.— Cheiroptera, or WiDg-handed Animals. 

The bats are called by naturalists Cheiroptera, or 
hand-winged. The first notice we have of them in 
the Bible is in Lev. xi. 19, and again in Dent. xiv. 
18, where we find them forbidden as articles of food. 
There is also a striking allusion to them in Isaiah 
ii. IS — 20: "And the idols he shall utterly abolish. 
And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and 
into the caves of the earth for fear of the Lord," etc. 
" In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver and 
his idols of gold, which they made each one for 
himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats/' 
The original word (atelephim) appears to denote 
"'fliers in darkness," a very fit name for bats, which 
during the day hide themselves in holes and cre- 
vices, and fly abroad in the dusk or at night. They 
are enabled to fly by means of a membranous skin, 
which rises from the sides of the neck and body, 
and is spread between the fore feet and their fingers. 
The part answering to the thumb in other animals 
is not lengthened like the fingers, or inclosed in the 
membrane, but free, short, and armed with a strong 
hooked claw. The hind feet are feeble, divided 
into five toes, with sharp-edged and pointed claws-, 
the external ears, which are often large, form with 
the wings an extensive surface, nearly bare, and 
endued with a high degree of sensibility, which 
enables them to avoid striking against objects in the 
dark. 

One of the largest animals of this class is the 
kalong, which is very common in the island of 
Java. During the day they hang in clusters, 
amounting sometimes to several hundreds, under 
a large tree, but soon after sunset leave their roost- 



THE CONEY. 9 

ing-place in quest of food, which consists chiefly of 
fruits of various kinds. The bats in our own coun- 
try feed upon moths, flies, and other small insects. 
They drink on the wing, like swallows, and love to 
frequent pools and streams, not only for the sake of 
drinking, but for the swarms of insects that hover 
about such spots. In Egypt, the tombs of the an- 
cients excavated in the rocks, their ruined temples, 
and the chambers in the pyramids, are tenanted by 
thousands of bats, which find a congenial lurking- 
place amidst the remains of idols, and the sculptured 
representations of idolatrous practices. 



THE CONEY.— (SftopAan, or Daman.) 

Order .—Pachydcrmata, or Thick-skinned Animals. 

•7 




THE DAMAN. 

The coneys are but a feeble folk, 

Yet make they their houses in the rocks. — Prov. xxx. 26. 
And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is 
unclean to you. — Lev. xi. 5. ; Deut. xiv. 7. 

The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; 
And the rocks for the coneys. — Psalm civ. 18. 

The animal referred to in the above passages is sup- 
posed to be the daman, or Syrian hyrax, also called 
the rock rabbit; its colour is a brownish grey above, 
and white below with a yellowish tint between. Its 
length is about two feet, and its height eleven inches. 



10 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

Mr. Bruce states, that it is not formed for burrowing, 
like the rabbit, but chooses for its retreat the mouths 
of caves or clefts in the rock. In walking they steal 
along as if frightened, with the belly almost on the 
ground, advancing a few steps at a time, and then 
pausing. Their whole manner is mild, feeble, and 
timid ; they are easily tamed, though if roughly 
handled at first they will bite. The feet are divided 
into four toes before and three behind, tipped with 
little rounded hoofs of slender horn, except the inner 
toe on each foot, behind which it is furnished with a 
sort of hoof hooked like a claw. In Abyssinia its 
flesh is considered unclean, both by Christians and 
Mohammedans. The Arabs eat it, and call it, per- 
haps in jest, "the sheep of the children of Israel.' 5 

The coney, or daman, closely as it resembles the 
hare or rabbit in external form and appearance, is 
placed by naturalists among the animals of the order 
termed Pachydermata, (of which the rhinoceros and 
hippopotamus are examples.) In assigning it to this 
order they are guided by its teeth, and its internal 
anatomy. 



THE HARK 

Order.— Rodentia, or Gnawers, so called from the form and use of the incisor 
teeth. 

The hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is un- 
clean unto you. — Lev. xi. 6.; Deut. xv. 7. 

The Hebrew name of this animal (avneveth) is 
supposed to be derived from two words, avah, to 
crop, and nib, fruit or produce. The common Eng- 
lish hare is so well known as hardly to need de- 
scription. The palms of the feet are covered with 
hair. The upper lip is cleft; the tongue is thick and 
soft. Its very long ears are capable of being closed. 
Hares do not, like rabbits, dig or seek a retreat under 
ground, but merely choose some convenient hollow, 
usually called a form. In severe weather they re- 
treat to the woods. The great length of their hind 



legs, compared with the others, only allows of a leap- 
ing motion, or an interrupted gallop. The hare, or 
rather several kinds of this animal, are met with in 
most parts of the world. Europe, Africa, Asia, and 
America, have their respective species. The Egyp- 
tian hare is of a paler colour than the English hare, 
and its ears are of far greater size in proportion. 

The reason given for rejecting both the hare and the 
coney, or daman,, as articles of food, is, that though 
they chew the cud they do not divide the hoof. With 
respect to the latter point, the meaning may be, that 
the foot, though divided into toes, does not resemble 
the divided hoof of the ox; but with respect to the 
former point there is greater difficulty. 

Naturalists do not admit that any of the Pachy- 
dermata or Rodeniia (to which latter order the hare 
belongs) chew the cud, as does the ox, and assure us 
the structure of the stomach differs from that of the 
same organ in ruminating animals. Cowper, indeed, 
informs us that his tame hares chewed the cud all 
day, till evening; and Bruce states that the daman 
chews the cud. But with regard to the latter ani- 
mal, this circumstance has not been observed in the 
various specimens which have been brought alive 
into Europe, nor is the statement of Cowper borne 
out by the observations of others. Mr. Bell, in his 
" British Quadrupeds," says, the hare is exclusively 
a vegetable feeder, and adds, that the structure of the 
whole of its digestive organs is expressly adapted 
for such diet; but he, with other naturalists, is silent 
respecting its chewing the cud. As, however, the 
expression "divideth not the hoof" must here be 
taken in a qualified sense, so some latitude must be 
allowed to the expression " cheweth the cud." It 
may allude not only to the act of rumination, as ex- 
hibited by the ox, or sheep, but also to the habit of 
reposing motionless on a "form," or hollow place, 
during the process of digestion, till the time of activi- 
ty, which coincides with that of a desire for fresh 
food, returns. The hare leaves its form in the even- 
ing, and during the night fills its stomach with vege- 



12 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



table aliment ; when the morning breaks it retires to 
its form, and there sits close all the day, while the 
process of digestion is in operation. Now, as ani- 
mals that ruminate first fill the stomach, and then 
repose to chew the cud, till the operation is finished, 
and then take more, so those that repose without ab- 
solutely remasticating the swallowed herbage, till 
the whole is digested, may be, with allowance for 
latitude of expression, included among the animals 
thus designated, namely, " those that chew the cud." 
Hence Cowper probably meant no more, when he 
wrote of his hares, " they chewed the cud all day, 
till evening." 

The above solution of the difficulty in question, 
suggested to us by a naturalist whom we consulted 
on the point, if not perfectly satisfactory, is at least 
plausible. 

THE MOUSE. 

Order. — Rodentia, or Gnawers. 

These also shall he unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep 
upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, etc. — Lev. xi 29. 
Five golden mice — 1 Sam. vi. 4. 
Eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse.— Isa. Ixvi. 17. 




THE JEBEOA. 



Probably the animal called the jerboa is here in- 
tended. In size it is equal to a large rat, of a pale 



THE MOLE. 13 

tawny yellow, lighter beneath, the tuft of the tail 
being black. Its speed is very great. In leaping it 
raises its body on the hind toes, balancing itself by 
means of its tail. The fur is soft and sleek, the ears 
large and open, the eye full and round, the muzzle 
short, and the head somewhat resembling a rabbit's 
head. It abounds in Egypt, Syria, and North Africa, 
burrowing in the sand-hills, or among ruins. The 
Arabs, Kalmucks, and Tartars, eat it freely. 



THE MOLE. 

Order.— Rodentia, or Gnawers. 

By the term Mole, as used in Isaiah, (ch. ii. v. 20,) 
the original of which is chepor-peroth, perhaps any 
burrowing, darkness-loving animal may be intended, 
the word having rather a general, than a particular 
application. If, however, we are to suppose any spe- 
cies to be definitely indicated, as most commentators 
would contend, we are inclined to fix upon the mole- 
rat, or spalax; {Spalax typhlas, or Jlspalax typhlus,) 
the dcjrfoaai {aspalax) of Aristotle and the Greek wri- 
ters, who regarded it, and correctly, as totally desti- 
tute of the powers of vision. The mole (talpa) does 
not appear to exist in Syria ; but the spalax is common, 
extending thence through Persia, and Asia Minor, into 
the south-east of Russia, especially along the river 
Don. It is probable, however, that two or more spe- 
cies are included under the same title, and that the 
Russian and Syrian spalax may be distinct. 

The spalax is a burrowing, mole-like animal, of 
the rodent order ; the head is singularly broad and 
flat, with a lateral ridge on each side, extending 
from the naked nose to the ears, which are scarcely 
to be distinguished. The eyes are mere rudimen- 
tary black grains, about the size of poppy-seeds, 
buried beneath the skin; the nostrils are wide apart; 
there is no tail; the limbs are short and strong, and, 

3 



14 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

together with the feet and claws, are well adapted 
for burrowing ; the fur is soft and close. 

The spalax excavates extensive galleries in the 
earth, which have openings at the distance of some 
yards from each other, where, like mole-hills, only- 
much larger, the earth is raised in hillocks, some- 
times of two yards in circumference, of proportionate 
height. From the main gallery, the spalax drives 
lateral passages, in search of roots, upon which it 
feeds, and especially bulbous roots, such as those of 
the Chcerophylhim. It works with great rapidity 
and unwearied perseverance; and on the appearance 
of an enemy digs a perpendicular shaft with extra- 
ordinary rapidity. Though unable to see, its hear- 
ing and sense of smell supply the deficiency, and 
give it warning of the approach of danger ; and 
when surprised, it will lift up its head, snort, and 
gnash its teeth, and endeavour to seize its assailant. 
Its bite is very severe. In the morning it often quits 
its burrow, and basks with its mate in the sunshine. 
There is a superstition among the people along the 
banks of the Ukraine, that the hand of a person, 
in the grasp of which one of these animals has been 
suffocated, is capable of curing scrofulous diseases. 

The general colour of the spalax is ashy grey, the 
fur being dusky at the roots. A white line extends 
along the lateral ridge of the head, from the nose to 
the ears. The spalax measures eight or nine inches 
in length. 



THE LION. 15 

THE LION. 

Order.— Carnivora, or Flesh-eating Quadrupeds. 




What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion?— Judges xiv. 18. 

A lion which is strongest among beasts, 

And turneth not away from any. — Prov. xxx. 30. 

Judah is a lion's whelp : 

From the prey, my son, thou art gone up: 

He stooped down, he couched as a lion. 

And as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?— Gen. xlix. 9. 

Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, 

And lift up himself as a young- lion: 

He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, 

And drink the blood of the slain. — Numbers xxiii. 24. 

Such are some of the expressions in which the Holy- 
Scriptures describe the power and majesty of the lion. 
The figurative language of the Bible, in its allusions 
to this animal, is easily understood. We read that 
" the king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion," Prov. 
xix. 12; xx. 2: of the teeth of the lion in Psa. lviii. 6; 
Joel i. 6. David says of Saul and Jonathan, " They 
were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than 
lions." 2 Sam. i. 23. In 1 Ohron. xii. 8, it is said of 
David's soldiers that their " faces were like the faces 
of lions." Of the heroic Benaiah we are told, in 2 
Sam. xxiii. 20, that he slew two " lion-like men" 



16 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

(literally "lions of God") "of Moab," that is, two 
distinguished Moabitish warriors. Thus a king of 
Abyssinia describes himself: "I stand among my 
neighbours as a lion of the forest, and I fear not all 
the Moors and heathens." Isaiah, speaking of the ad- 
vance of an army, says, " Their roaring shall be like 
a lion, they shall roar like young lions : yea, they 
shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it 
away safe, and none shall deliver it." Isa. v. 29. We 
may observe, that in the Hebrew language there are 
various terms for the lion at different periods of its 
life ; thus, in Ezekiel xix. 1, 2, we read, 

What is thy mother ? A lioness : (Z biya:) 

She lay down among lions, (araioth.) 

She nourished her whelps (gureiha.) among young lions, (e'phirim.) 

And in Job iv. 10, " The roaring of the lion, (aryeh,) 
and the voice of the fierce (or black) lion, (shachal,) 
and the teeth of the young lions, (c'phirim,) are 
broken. The old lion (laish) perisheth for lack of 
prey, and the stout lion's {labi) whelps are scattered 
abroad." 

When an enraged lion bends his head close to the 
ground, and utters his dreadfully deep roar, it might 
be mistaken for the rumbling of thunder or an earth- 
quake. The roaring of a lion is best fitted to denote 
not acts of secret enmity, but open and violent perse- 
cution; and for this reason the apostle Peter, speaking 
of the persecutions of the Christians, says that " the 
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom 
he may devour." 1 Pet. v. 8. When the lion, in his 
great eagerness, springs after his prey to a great dis- 
tance, it not unfrequently happens, that he misses his 
aim, and leaps beyond it ; he then slinks away ashamed, 
like a detected thief. This is particularly the case if 
he happen to meet with a man who has self-possession 
enough to look him steadily in the face. He then turns 
away with his tail between his legs, and without ut- 
tering the least noise. Indeed every ravenous beast 
has a natural fear of man. " The fear of you and 
the dread of you," said God to Noah, " shall be upon 
every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the 



THE LION. 17 

air, upon all that moveth on the earth, and upon all 
the fishes of the sea." Gen. ix. 2. The lion, as the 
noblest of the beasts of prey, seems to have this fear. 
But if the natural courage of man can produce so 
great an effect, the freedom from the fear of death 
which faith in Jesus Christ gives, must have a still 
stronger influence. This was shown on many occa- 
sions, when the first Christians were exposed to wild 
beasts in the public shows at Rome. And in the case 
of Daniel, God sent his angel, and shut the mouths of 
the lions, and probably enabled the holy prophet to 
view them with extraordinary calmness and self-pos- 
session. 

If you have never seen a lion, you have only to 
imagine an enormous cat, upwards of three feet in 
height at the shoulders, with a large head, broad face, 
majestic commanding look, wrinkled forehead, deeply 
set eyes, cleft upper lip, hanging down on both sides 
like a mastiff's, adorned about the breast, neck, and 
throat with a thick shaggy mane, and a large tuft of 
hair at the end of the tail. The mane is peculiar to 
the male lion, and makes its appearance when the ani- 
mal is in its third year. 

The lion, like the tiger and leopard, belongs to the 
cat tribe of the carnivorous order of quadrupeds. The 
whole of the bodily formation, and the character of 
the teeth, indicate the ferocious and blood-thirsty ha- 
bits of these animals. The head is large, the muzzle 
short, and the limbs vigorous; the canine teeth are 
large and strong; the sharp, hooked claws are habitu- 
ally sheathed, unless about to be used in lacerating a 
victim. There are four grinding teeth on each side in 
the upper, and three in the lower jaw: of these, the 
last but one above, and the last below, are sharp-edged 
flesh-cutters ; the last grinder above is very small. 

The animals of the cat tribe differ in many particu- 
lars from the animals of the canine tribe, or dog kind. 
You need only look into the mouth of a dog and a cat 
to see the difference of the teeth. In the dog, the 
cutting teeth are six above and below ; the canines, 

3* 



18 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

sharp and strong,* are one on each side in each jaw : 
there are six molars on each side above, and seven 
below ; of these, the last but two on each side are 
sharp-edged flesh-cutters; the last two are bruising 
and crushing molars. You may also easily find out 
the difference in the claws of the two races. Dogs, 
and other animals of the same kind, such as the jackal, 
the wolf, and the fox, have the claws unsheathed ; 
hence they wear down in walking ; they are also very 
frequently used for scratching the ground, and are 
thick and blunted. Compare the paw of the common 
cat with that of the dog, and if you examine you will 
see how the sharp claws in the former are concealed 
in a sheath, and preserved from injury by a soft cushion 
or pad at the sole of the foot, besides a smaller one 
under each claw. Thus they are always kept in readi- 
ness either for catching their prey, or for inflicting 
severe scratches : the latter use the reader has per- 
haps known to his cost. 

In former times, lions were far more numerous in 
the world than at present. Two thousand years ago 
they were not at all uncommon in Greece and Lesser 
Asia. Armenia swarmed with them; but they are no 
longer to be met with in these countries. As many as 
six hundred were collected and brought to Italy by 
Pompey, to fight in the Amphitheatre on one occasion, 
for the amusement of the Roman people. Under the 
emperors these cruel exhibitions were made on a still 
larger scale. Titus collected together nine thousand, 
and Trajan eleven thousand wild beasts, to slaugh- 
ter one another ; and of these a large proportion 
were lions. Fights, in which at least one hundred 
lions engaged, took place almost every year. It is sur- 
prising mat in Palestine, where they were numerous 
while the country was thickly populated under the 
kings, they do not now exist. In Egypt, also, they 
are no longer to be met with. To whatever causes 
this circumstance may be owing, it is not to the care 

* So called from their size and strength in the dog (Canis.) 

i 



THE LION. 19 

of the public safety taken by the government, nor to 
the increase of population : nor is it the climate, for 
this has been the same for two thousand years — we 
may say four thousand years ; for it may be seen at 
once from the books of Moses, in what months there 
was the early and latter rain, seed-time and harvest 
in Palestine ; namely, the same as at present. The 
use of fire-arms, in modern times, may have assisted 
in chasing away these animals from the abodes of men. 
Yet this does not seem fully to clear up the matter. 
We know that wild beasts have sometimes been ex- 
pressly sent by the Lord. We read in 2 Kings xvii. 
24, " The king of Assyria brought men from Baby- 
lon," and other places, to dwell in " the cities of Sa- 
maria, instead of the children of Israel." And, " they 
feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions 
among them." And He can send them away when- 
ever he will. 

How common lions were in the Holy Land and the 
adjacent countries in ancient times, is shown by many 
passages of Scripture : for instance, Nahum ii. 11, 12, 
"Where is the dwelling of the lions?" etc. See Psal. 
civ. 21. They were found in Lebanon, Song of Sol. 
iv. 8; near the banks of the Jordan, Jer. xlix. 19; 
2 Sam. xxiii. 20 ; in the plains near Tabor, 1 Kings xx. 
36; in the fields of Bethlehem, 1 Sam. xvii. 34; in the 
land of the Philistines, Judges xiv. 5 : in Egypt, "the 
land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the 
young and old lion." Isa. xxx. 6. Yet the danger 
was not so great as to prevent husbandmen from going 
on their own fields ; the expressions in Prov. xxii. 13, 
and xxvi. 13, are only meant as cutting reproofs of 
the slothful. 

In Ezekiel xix. 1 — 8, the carrying away of the 
kings of Judah, in the Babylonish captivity, is com- 
pared to a lion hunt. Beasts of prey were taken either 
in pitfalls or nets (v. 8). The first method is still com- 
mon among the Moors in Morocco; they dig a deep 
pit, which is slightly covered with rushes and straw, 
and a live sheep or lamb is fastened to a pole, fixed 



20 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

in the middle of the pit. When a lion finds itself 
taken in a pit of this sort, it is so frightened that the 
Moors can destroy or secure it without much risk. 
The other way of hunting is with nets, into which the 
lion is driven by torch-light. This is common, even 
now-a-days, near the Euphrates. The natives of 
Abyssinia sometimes, it is said, venture to attack a 
lion single-handed, as Benaiah and David once did, 
with a shield on the left arm, which they hold against 
the lion as he rushes upon them; they stab him in the 
neck with a sword in the other hand. 

In the Holy Scriptures the Almighty is often repre- 
sented under the symbol of a lion. Provoked to anger 
by the wickedness of men, he utters his awful voice, 
threatens the most dreadful judgments against sinners, 
and destroys his enemies with a power from which 
none can escape or resist. "For I will be unto Ephraim 
as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah : 
I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, 
and none shall rescue him." Hos. v. 14; xiii. 7. " The 
Lord shall roar like a lion." Hos. xi. 10; Amos i. 2; 
iii. 4, 8. But, under the same image, he is described 
as coming to protect his saints, and rescue them from 
their enemies. " Like as the lion, and the young lion 
roaring on his prey, so shall the Lord of hosts come 
down to fight for Mount Zion, and for the hill thereof." 
Isa. xxxi. 4. And in the same chapter of the Revela- 
tion, where the Lord Jesus Christ is described, in re- 
ference to his atoning sacrifice, "a Lamb that had 
been slain," he is also styled " the Lion of the tribe 
of Judah." Rev. v. 5, 6. How desirable is it that we 
should combine these and similar views of the Saviour ; 
that we should not dwell on one class of representa- 
tions to the exclusion of another class equally import- 
ant ; that our hearts and minds should receive the full 
impression of his blessed character, of the whole circle 
of his Divine perfections ; that, in short, our love may 
be reverential, and our reverence filial! 



THE LEOPARD. 



21 



THE LEOPARD. 



Order. — Carnivora, or Flesh-eating Quadrupeds. 




Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? 

Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. — Jer. xiii. 23. 

This animal (in the Hebrew, and several other eastern 
languages, called namer) is about the size of a large 
dog. It would seem that it was formerly common in 
Palestine, as several places bear names which intimate 
that they were infested with leopards, as Nimrah, 
Numb, xxxii. 3; Beth-nimrah, Numb, xxxii. 36; 
Josh. xiii. 27; and "waters of Nimrim," Isa. xv. 6; 
Jer. xlviii. 34; and in Song of Sol. iv. 8, we read of 
the " mountains of the leopards." The leopard is 
still known in Syria and Arabia, though no longer 
common. It is one of the most beautiful animals of 
the cat tribe. The black rosettes, with which its yel- 
low hide is marked, give it an appearance which has 
always been admired, and supplies the comparison in 
Jeremiah quoted above. It much resembles the tiger, 
except its having black spots instead of stripes, but is 
a much smaller animal. It is distinguished from the 
panther by having spots in clusters instead of single 
ones. These animals lie in wait for their prey, and in 
pursuit are remarkably swift; which last quality shows 



22 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

the propriety of the allusion to them by the prophet 
Habakkuk, (i. 8,) who, speaking of the Chaldeans, 
says, " Their horses are swifter than leopards." For 
the same season a winged leopard is the emblem made 
use of in Daniel's vision to denote the extreme rapidi- 
ty of Alexander's conquests. Dan. vii. 6. To express 
the peaceful and happy state of the reign of Christ, it 
is said in Isaiah xi. 6, " The leopard shall lie down 
with the kid." 

There is another animal, known in Palestine, and 
other parts of the East, very similar to the one we 
have just described, and termed the hunting leopard. 
In India it is called the chetah: it is of a pale yellow 
colour on the upper part, white underneath, and co- 
vered all over irregularly with very small spots. In 
the slim make of its body and limbs, and in its aptness 
for being trained to field-sports, it is more like the dog 
than the cat. It is tamed by the Mohammedans in 
Syria, and employed in hunting the gazelle. The 
huntsman draws a hood over its face, and places it 
behind him on horseback. As soon as he sees a ga- 
zelle, he takes off the hood ; the leopard immediately 
creeps towards its prey, till within the proper distance, 
when it suddenly springs upon its unwary victim. 
If it misses its aim, it slinks back ashamed to the 
sportsman. As the Mohammedans consider all meat 
from which the blood has not been taken, as unclean, 
and, therefore, eat no game which has died of a gun- 
shot wound, hunting with the leopard must always, 
as long as they regard the Koran, be preferred to 
hunting with fire-arms. Though this animal is not 
equal in strength to the larger leopard, it is sufficiently 
dangerous to the traveller through unfrequented re- 
gions. The missionary Schulz mentions a remarkable 
instance : " The son of a Maronite priest was going 
home one evening through a coppice, when he saw a 
hunting leopard. The animal sprung immediately on 
the youth, who was beforehand with it, and shot it 
with his gun through the head. But he had scarcely 
killed this before a second made its appearance ; he 
then drew out a long knife, which he wore by his side, 



THE WOLF. 23 

and held it so that on the animal's springing at him it 
received a fatal wound in the belly ; but alarmed by 
this second attack, he hastened onwards, leaving the 
knife sticking in the animal. Scarcely had he gone 
a hundred steps further, before a third leopard met 
him. He had now no weapon, except the unloaded 
gun; making a desperate effort, he knocked the beast 
down by a stroke on the head, but in doing so broke 
his gun in pieces, so that he was now wholly defence- 
less. In this plight he reached his home. His parents 
soon saw that some strange accident had happened; 
and after he had told them the whole adventure, they 
went out the next morning and skinned the leopards 
he had killed. But their poor son took to his bed, and 
died in three days, owing to the fright." 



THE WOLF. 

Order.— Carnivora, or Flesh-eating Quadrupeds. 

Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, 

And a wolf of the evenings (or deserts) shall spoil them. — Jer. v. 6. 

The wolf is a native of both northern and southern 
climates. It is inferior in strength to the bear, and in 
swiftness to the leopard, and frequently becomes a 
prey to the stronger wild beasts; but in its ravenous, 
destructive disposition it is surpassed by none. The 
wolf, like the thief, " cometh not but for to steal, and 
to kill, and to destroy." Its appetite for slaughter is 
never satisfied. What it cannot devour, it mangles ; 
and when it breaks into a sheepfold it never leaves off 
killing as long as there is any thing alive. It hides 
itself by day ; and comes forth at dusk to destroy. 
" They are more fierce than the evening wolves," says 
the prophet Habakkuk of the Chaldean horsemen, 
(i. 8.) To describe the severity of the Divine judg- 
ments on the wicked Jews, it is said, " A wolf of the 
evenings shall spoil them," Jer. v. 6. In general ap- 
pearance the wolf resembles the dog. It is about two 
feet and a half in height, and three and a half from 



24 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

the nose to the beginning of the tail. The head is 
long and pointed; the eyes open slantingly, and have 
a fierce and sinister expression ; the ears are erect and 
sharp; the tail is rather bushy, and bends down to- 
wards the legs. The hair is of a greyish fawn-colour, 
with a dark stripe on the fore-legs, but in some kinds 
the colour is nearly black and dusky. From the 
strength of the jaws and neck, the wolf bites very se- 
verely, and can carry an animal of some weight in its 
mouth while running. It does not bark like a dog, but 
howls. But though so fierce in its natural state, it is 
capable of being tamed, and of showing great affection 
for its master or keeper. It still abounds in the colder 
and more mountainous parts of Europe, where it de- 
stroys not only smaller animals, but even horses and 
horned cattle. At one period it was the terror of Eng- 
land ; retreats were built in the northern districts to 
protect passengers, and taxes were paid in wolves' 
heads. The month of January was called " Wolf- 
monat" by the Anglo-Saxons, because people were 
wont in that month to be in more danger of being de- 
voured by wolves than in any other season of the 
year, because through the extreme cold and snow, 
those ravenous creatures could not find other beasts 
sufficient to feed upon. 

The scriptural allusions to the wolf have reference 
to his fierceness and cruelty, his delight in slaughter, 
his preying on weak inoffensive animals, and his habit 
of prowling by night. The tribe of Benjamin was 
prophetically described by Jacob as a " ravening wolf," 
Gen. xlix. 27, and the history of this tribe justifies the 
comparison; see Judges xix. xx. The princes and 
judges of the Jews who were cruel and oppressive, are 
compared to wolves who " gnaw not the bones till the 
morning/-' that is, keep even the bones to satisfy their 
rapacity. Our Lord compares false prophets to " wolves 
in sheep's clothing," mild and harmless in appearance, 
but really dangerous and destructive. Matt. vii. 15. 
Paul calls false teachers " grievous wolves." Acts xx. 
29. The Saviour speaks of his apostles as " sheep in the 
midst of wolves." Matt. x. 16; Luke x. 3; John x. 12. 



THE DOG. 25 

The influence of the gospel in changing the disposition 
is described by saying that " the wolf shall dwell with 
the lamb," and that they " shall feed together." Isa. 
xi. 6, lxv. 25. 

THE DOG. 

Order.— Carnivora, or Flesh-eating Quadrupeds. 

The dog belongs to the same family as the wolf. This 
tribe is distinguished from that of the cats by the form 
of the muzzle, the number and structure of the grind- 
ers, as already described, and by the blunt claws, 
which are not drawn in and out. 

The dog, in eastern countries, is seldom treated as a 
domestic animal, and hence scarcely shows any marks 
of that attachment, faithfulness, and obedience to his 
master, which make him, among us, quite a favourite. 
In the East, the famished dogs run about the streets 
like beggars, and grumble if they do not get a full 
meal; they devour carrion, rummage the heaps of re- 
fuse, and even tear open graves to appease their raven- 
ous hunger ; and when criminals had been executed 
it was usual to throw their bodies to the dogs. Jer. xv. 
3; 1 Kings xiv. 11, xvi. 4, xxi. 23, xxii. 38; 2 Kings 
ix. 33, 36. In what contempt the dog was held by 
the Hebrews from the earliest times, is shown by the 
proverbial expressions we meet with in the Old Testa- 
ment: Job xxx. 1; 1 Sam. xxiv. 14; 2 Sam. hi. 8, and 
ix. 8; 2 Kings viii. 13. But after the time of the 
Maccabees, when the Jews had adopted, in some mea- 
sure, Grecian customs, dogs were probably kept as 
domestic animals. Thus the Syrophenician woman 
said to our Lord, " The dogs eat of the crumbs which 
fall from their master's table," Matt. xv. 27; and dogs 
are described as licking the sores of Lazarus, as he lay 
at the rich man's gate. Luke xvi. 21. Still, in the 
New Testament, the allusions to this animal are all 
expressive of contempt or abhorrence. According to 
the Mosaic law, dogs were unclean ; flesh that had 
been torn by beasts was directed to be thrown to them. 
Exod. xxii. 31. Unholy men are termed dogs by our 

4 



26 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

Saviour, in Matt. vii. 6 ; " Give not that which is holy 
unto the dogs." The same name is given to false 
teachers by Paul, in Phil. hi. 2 ; and in Rev. xxii. 15, 
it is applied to men addicted to vile sensuality. 



THE FOX. 

Order. — Carnivora, or Flesh-eating Quadrupeds. 

This animal, so noted for its cunning, belongs also, as 
does the wolf, to the dog tribe. Its thick head, which 
ends in a long pointed muzzle, its slanting eyes, and 
sharp ears, give us at first sight an impression of its 
character. It makes a noise like the yelping of a 
young cur, which is heard most frequently in very se- 
vere weather. It dwells in holes generally, consisting 
of three or four chambers with several openings. Our 
Saviour applies this name to Herod, " Go ye, and tell 
that fox," Luke xiii. 32 ; and strikingly expresses his 
own want of earthly comforts when he came into the 
world to save sinners, by saying, " Foxes have holes, 
and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of 
man hath not where to lay his head." Luke ix. 58. 

The Hebrew word shual, generally translated "fox" 
in the English version, is, however, supposed, on good 
grounds, to be the jackal, which still abounds through- 
out the eastern world, and in many parts of Africa. 
The tail is bushy, but reaches only to the heels; the 
pupils of the eyes are round and small. Altogether 
it very much resembles a dog, and is supposed by 
some naturalists to be the original stock of our domes- 
tic dogs. The general colour is a dirty-fawn above, 
and whitish underneath. Jackals hunt their prey 
together in large packs, sometimes two or three hun- 
dred, differing in this respect from the fox, which is 
not gregarious. The howlings of these packs are 
frightful, and give great alarm to travellers; hence 
they are also called in Hebrew ayim, that is, howlers. 
Like the foxes, they live in holes under ground; but 
they are also fond of ruined towns, which afford 



THE HYENA. 27 

numerous secure retreats. Hence, in the Lamenta- 
tions of Jeremiah it is said, "Because of the moun- 
tain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon 
it." v. 18. In Psa. Ixiii. 10, we read, "They shall 
fall by the sword : they shall be a portion for foxes/' 
That the jackal is the animal mentioned in Judges 
xv. may be inferred from the number of animals 
taken by Samson, which must have been much easier 
with those that assemble in packs, than with a soli- 
tary creature, like the fox. In ancient Rome a fox 
was sacrificed to Ceres, with torches tied round it, 
because a fox wrapped round with stubble and hay 
set on fire, being let go by a boy, once burned the 
growing corn of the people of Carseoli, as the foxes 
of Samson did the growing corn of the Philistines.* 

The jackal has been called the lion's provider, but 
the reverse is the truth ; for the jackal picks the bones 
of the beast on which the lion has satiated his hunger. 
He is a terrible depredator in vineyards. 



THE HYENA. 

Order.— Carnivora, or Flesh-eating Quadrupeds 







It is singular, common as the hyena is in Egypt, 
Abyssinia, Nubia, Persia, and Syria, and common as 

* Adam's Roman Antiquities, p. 223. 



28 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

it ever has been, that no mention of it is made in the 
authorized version of the Scriptures. If the reader 
will turn to Jeremiah xii. 9, he will read, "Mine 
heritage is unto me as a speckled bird; the birds 
round about are against her." The word translated 
"speckled bird" should be rendered, according to the 
learned Bochart, by "the hyena." The author of 
the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, ch. v. 18, asks, 
in allusion to the antipathy between this animal and 
the dog, "What agreement is there between the 
hyena and the dog?" 

That the Greeks and Romans were well acquaint- 
ed with this animal is very certain, but, at the same 
time, they attributed to it many properties, which, 
though for a long time currently received, involve 
absurdities unworthy the slightest notice. 

The hyena is as tall as the wolf, but more heavily 
built, especially about the neck, shoulders, and head. 
Its strength is very great; and though it will not, 
unless driven to extremity, attack man, it fears no 
animal. Its coat, consists of long harsh hairs, which 
form a mane running down the back from the shoul- 
ders. The colour is dirty grey, clouded with trans- 
verse stripes of a darker tint. The hyena stands 
higher before than at his hind quarters; his hind legs, 
indeed, seem bowed and disproportionately weak, 
hence his walk is shuffling and awkward ; neverthe- 
less, he can run with great celerity. 

The hyena prowls at night, destroying donkeys, 
sheep, pigs, and cattle ; to counterbalance this, it de- 
vours the offal and refuse of the towns and villages of 
those districts where it abounds, a work which it shares 
with the vulture. 

On the approach of morning the hyena retires to 
his den, a cave among rocks, or old ruins, or a lair in 
some tangled thicket; here he sleeps, till the shades of 
evening call him to his nightly carnage. 

Of the ferocity and daring of the hyena, some idea 
may be formed from Major Denham's account of them 
in the Bernou country : " The hyenas, which are 
every where a legion, grew now so extremely raven- 



THE HYENA. 29 

ous, that a good large village, where I sometimes pro- 
cured a draught of sour milk on my duck-shooting 
excursions, had "been attacked the night before my last 
visit, the town absolutely carried by storm, notwith- 
standing defences nearly six feet high, of branches of 
the prickly tulloch; and two donkeys, whose flesh 
these animals are particularly fond of, carried off in 
spite of the efforts of the people. We constantly 
heard them close to the walls of our town at nights; 
and on a gate being left partially open, they would 
enter, and carry off any unfortunate animal they could 
find in the streets." Bruce had, on one occasion, a 
narrow escape from a hyena, which entered his tent 
at night; his large blue eyes glaring in the dark 
startled the traveller, who with his servant mana- 
ged to despatch this unwelcome guest. In Abys- 
sinia, hyenas, Bruce writes, " were the plague of our 
lives, the terror of our night walks, and the destruc- 
tion of our mules and asses, which are their favourite 
food." 

Captain Beechey says, " Although we had very fre- 
quently been disturbed by hyenas, we never found 
that familiarity with their howl, or with their presence, 
could render their near approach an unimportant 
occurrence; and the hand would instinctively find 
its way to the pistol, before we were aware of the 
action, whenever either of these interruptions obtru- 
ded themselves closely upon us, either by night or 
day." 

Seldom, however, will the hyena prove the aggres- 
sor: if unmolested, he utters his peculiar howl, and 
displays his teeth, at the same time walks doggedly 
away, with a peculiar drag and limp, as if he were 
lame. If, however, he is attacked, he commences the 
combat, and fights with the utmost fierceness and ob- 
stinacy. Belzoni gives us an instance in point. " Hav- 
ing taken a proper view of the temple, named Cassar 
el Haron, and the town, in ruins, I went to see the 
small Greek chapel, accompanied by the two boatmen ; 
and as there was no appearance of any danger, I left 
my gun and pistols in the temple, but had nearly suf- 

4* 



30 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

fered for my temerity, for just as I was mounting the 
few steps that lead to the platform of the small chapel, 
a large hyena rushed from the apartments beneath, 
and had I not been on the first step it could not have 
avoided attacking me, as there was no other way by 
which it could come out. The animal stopped three 
or four yards from me, and then turned round as if 
determined to attack me, but it appeared, on second 
thoughts, to have relinquished its intent ; after having 
shown me its pretty teeth, it gave a hideous roar, and 
set off as fast as it could. I attributed its flight to the 
noise made by the two boatmen." — Travels in Egypt 
and Nubia. 

It has been asserted and believed, that the savage 
hyena is utterly untamable, that his ferocity can 
never be subdued. This is a mistake ; naturalists, and 
travellers of the present day, testify to the fact, that 
he may be as completely tamed as a dog, and that he 
is intelligent and affectionate in his reclaimed condition. 
Many instances of this kind are recorded in works on 
natural history; and Barrow assures us, that "in the 
Snewberg, Southern Africa, it has been domesticated, 
and is there considered as one of the best hunters after 
game, and as faithful and diligent as any of the com- 
mon sort of domestic dogs." The hyena, however, is 
impatient of confinement, which keeps it in a state of 
perpetual irritation, and renders it distrustful and sa- 
vage. " An individual at Exeter Change some years 
ago was so tame, as to be allowed to walk about the 
exhibition room. He was afterwards sold to a person, 
who permitted him to go about with him into the fields, 
led by a string. After these indulgences he became 
the property of a travelling showman, who kept him 
constantly in a cage. From that time his ferocity be- 
came quite alarming, he would allow no stranger to 
approach him, but gradually pined away, and died." 
— Menageries, vol. i. 






THE BEAR. THE BADGER. 31 

THE BEAR. 

Order. — Carnivora, or Flesh-eating Quadrupeds. 

As if a man did flee from a lion, 
And a bear met him. — Amos v. 19. 

In the days of the kings of Israel, the bear was much 
more common in Palestine than at present. There are 
several kinds of this animal, but the one mentioned in 
Scripture is that called the Syrian bear. It frequently 
preys on animals, but, for the most part, feeds on vege- 
tables. The skin is sometimes of a yellowish brown, 
and sometimes a yellowish white, varied with yellow- 
ish spots. The bear has a long clumsy body covered 
with coarse hair, and short thick legs ; but what dis- 
tinguishes it particularly is its feet. It walks on the 
soles of the feet, while most of the Mammalia tread 
on the ground only with their toes. When its anger 
is roused, it is a dreadful opponent, from its great 
strength and undaunted resolution. 

The anger of bears, when robbed of their young, 
gave rise to a proverbial expression, which occurs in 
several places in Scripture. Jehovah, in threatening 
his rebellious people, declares, " I will meet them as a 
bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the 
caul of their heart." Hosea xiii. 8. Of David and his 
warriors it is said, " They be chafed in their minds, as 
a bear robbed of her whelps in the field." 2 Sam. xvii. 
8. In the vision of Daniel (vii. 5,) the second beast 
which appeared was like a bear, and represented the 
empire of the Medes and Persians. 

THE BADGER. 

Order.— Carnivora, or Flesh-eating Quadrupeds. 

The common badger is about the size of a middling 
dog, but stands much lower on the legs, and has a 
broader and flatter body. Like the bear, it walks on 



32 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

the soles of the feet, which have five toes each, short, 
strong, deeply buried in the flesh, and armed with 
powerful claws, admirably suited for burrowing or 
turning up the earth in search of food. With the claws 
of their fore-feet they make a deep burrow, generally 
in a sandy or light gravelly soil. The burrow has 
but a single entrance from without, but afterwards 
divides into several chambers, and ends in a round 
cell at the bottom, well lined with dry grass and fur. 
They sleep all day in this retreat, and move about 
during the night in search of food. They are often 
charged with destroying rabbits, game, and even 
young lambs, but roots and fallen fruits appear to 
form the chief part of their food. 

The badger attacks the nests of wild bees, which 
it can do without any risk of being stung, owing to 
the length of its hair and the thickness of its hide. 
It lives in the most solitary woods, is quiet and inoffen- 
sive, but when attacked defends itself with great cour- 
age. It is hunted in some parts of the country during 
the bright moonlight nights, when searching for food; 
its hide, when properly dressed, makes the best pistol 
furniture; the hair is valuable for painting-brushes, 
and the hind-quarters, when salted and smoked, make 
excellent hams; they are a favourite article of food 
with the Chinese. 

The only passages in the Bible in which this animal 
is mentioned, are, with one exception, those relating 
to the building of the tabernacle. Five times in the 
book of Exodus, and once in Numbers, we read of 
" badgers' skins." But it is very doubtful whether the 
animal so called was intended by the Hebrew word 
tachas. Almost all the ancient, versions, and the Jew- 
ish traditions, regard it as a colour of leather or skin, 
and point out crimson, or different shades of blue. 
In Ezek. xvi. 10, costly shoes are described as made 
of this material, but badger's skin would be quite un- 
suitable for this purpose in a warm climate. Many 
learned men, however, consider the word tachas to 
signify an animal, though they differ as to the kind. 



THE HORSE. 33 

As the word in Arabic signifies a dolphin, with which 
the ancients commonly classed the seal, some have 
understood it to mean seal-skins; which would cer- 
tainly make a good sense, and be tolerably applicable 
to all the passages in which the word occurs. But, 
most probably, coloured leather of some kind is in- 
tended.* 



THE HORSE. 

Order. — Pacliydermata, or Thick-skinned Quadrupeds. 

The horse, which, as a domestic animal, is now well 
known in all civilized countries, was but little used by 
the Israelites. No animal appears to have improved 
so much under the care of man as this noble creature. 
Its beautiful form, its strength, speed, courage, docility, 
and attachment to man, besides other most valuable 
qualities, give it an important place among domestic 
animals. 

In very early times the horse was used in war, as 
we learn from the magnificent description in the book 
of Job, xxxix. 19 — 25. Yet we do not find it 
among the possessions of the patriarchs. Even the 
Arabians, who for several hundred years have been 
noted for their breed of horses, and who profess to 
trace their pedigree in an unbroken line to king Solo- 

* " The Superior of the convent at Sinai procured for me a pair of 
the sandals usually worn by the Bedouin of the peninsula, made of the 
thick skin of a fish which is caught in the Red Sea. The Arabs 
around the convent called it Turs, but could give no further account 
of it than that it is a large fish, and is eaten. It is a species of Heli- 
core, named by Ehrenberg, Halicora hemprechei. The skin is clumsy 
and coarse, and might answer very well for the external covering of a 
tabernacle which was constructed at Sinai, but would seem hardly a 
fitting material for the ornamental sandals belonging to the costly 
attire of high-born dames in Palestine, described by the prophet 
Ezekiel. 

" Exod. xxv. 5, xxvi. 14. The Hebrew word is if nn, usually trans- 
lated badger, though, as it would seem, without sufficient reason in 
this case." — Dr. Robinson's Biblical Researches. 



34 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

mon's stud, appear to have made little or no use of 
the horse in the time of Moses; for, in the booty taken 
from the five kings of Midian, no mention is made of 
this animal. Numb. xxxi. 32 — 34. It is indeed re- 
markable, that the first notice of it, in any country 
besides Egypt, is in Joshua xi. 6. Even when the 
tribes beyond Jordan waged war with four Arabian 
nations, though the victors captured 50,000 camels, 
250,000 sheep, 2000 asses, and 100,000 men, not a 
word is said of horses. In short, throughout the whole 
Scripture history, the horse is never mentioned in con- 
nexion with Arabia. With this all ancient history 
agrees: even Strabo, who lived near the time of Christ, 
says of Arabia Felix, that it had neither horses, mules, 
nor swine; and of Arabia Deserta, that camels sup- 
plied the place of horses. This explains why Moses 
never supposed that the Hebrews would go to Arabia 
for horses, but that they would go to Egypt. When 
the Arabians began to pay attention to the breeding 
of horses we do not know; but it is certain, that 
horses were numerous and highly valued in that coun- 
try before the time of Mohammed. The Egyptians 
appear to have been the first who employed the horse, 
not only in war, but in agriculture and for draught. 
Gen. xlvii. 17; Exod. ix. 3. When Jacob's corpse 
was removed from Egypt to Canaan, Joseph ac- 
companied the funeral procession with chariots and 
horsemen." Gen. 1. 9. Pharaoh had a great host of 
" horses, and chariots and horsemen." Exod. xiv. 
9, IS. The Canaanitish kings, who possessed the 
northern part of the land, led out a numerous ca- 
valry to battle ; and the Philistines made use of 
war-chariots against the Israelites. Josh. xi. 4; Judg. 
i. 19; 1 Sam. xiii. 5; 2 Sam. i. 6. The Israelitish 
kings were forbidden by God to multiply horses. David 
observed this law; and of the horses belonging to a 
thousand war-chariots, killed all excepting for a hun- 
dred chariots. 2 Sam. viii. 4. Several expressions of 
David in the Psalms allude to this Divine command. 
(i A horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he 



THE HORSE. 35 

deliver any by his great strength." Psal. xxxiii. 17. 
" He delighteth not in the strength of the horse." 
Psal. cxlvii. 10. Solomon violated this law, for he 
had fourteen hundred chariots, and twelve thousand 
horsemen. 1 Kings x. 26, 29 ; 2 Chron. i. 16, 17. His 
merchants also carried on a traffic in horses with the 
Syrians. The increase in the number of horses kept 
by the Israelites, and their dependence on the supply 
of horses from Egypt, called forth the rebukes of the 
prophets: "Wo unto them that go down to Egypt 
for help ; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, be- 
cause they are many ; and in horsemen, because they 
are very strong." Isa. xxxi. 1 : see also Isa. ii. 7, xxxvi. 
9 ; Jer. xlvi. 4, 9 ; Ezek. xvii. 15. 

The Egyptian and Nubian horses are still among the 
handsomest, and are esteemed next to the Arabian ; 
they are remarkable for their high-spirited gait, on 
which account, in the Song of Solomon, the bride is 
compared to " a company of horses in Pharaoh's cha- 
riot." i. 9. The Assyrians and Chaldeans were dread- 
ed by the Israelites chiefly on account of their cavalry. 
Jer. iv. 13; Habak. i. 8. 

Saddles and horse-shoes were not known to the an- 
cients: a strong solid hoof was therefore a prime point 
in a good horse : " Their horses' hoofs shall be count- 
ed like flint." Isa. v. 28 ; Amos vi. 12. The rein and 
the curb are of the highest antiquity. " Be ye not as 
the horse, or as the mule, whose mouth must be held 
in with bit and bridle." Psal. xxxii. 9. Their car- 
riages for travelling and war were only two-wheeled, 
as is proved by existing paintings and sculpture. 

The chariots and horses of the sun, mentioned in 
2 Kings xxiii. 11, were probably dedicated to Baal, 
or the god of the sun, and employed in idolatrous 
processions. 



36 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE WILD ASS. 

Order.— Pachydermata, or Thick-skinned Quadrupeds. 




DZIGGTAI, OR WILD ASS. 

Who hath sent out the wild ass (para) free ? 

Or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? (arod) 

Whose house I have made the wilderness, 

And the barren land his dwellings. 

He scorneth the multitude of the city, 

Neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. 

The range of the mountains is his pasture, 

And he searcheth after every green thing.— Job xxxix. 5-8. 

The wild ass is called dsiggtai by the Mongolians. 
It is a beautiful, powerful animal, intermediate in size 
between the horse and the ass ; light-footed, slender, 
with a neck resembling a stag's, which it holds very- 
erect, and a large head, with very movable, hare- 
shaped ears. Its colour is a pale bay, or cream, with 
a black line along the back, a black mane, and a black 
tuft of hair at the end of a thin short tail. Its neighing 
resembles that of a horse, but the tone is deeper and 
rougher. Its residence is the plains and deserts. Isa. 
xxxii. 14. Large herds of these animals are found in 
the mountain districts of Central Asia, and in Eastern 
Tartary and Mongolia ; they are frequently hunted, 
as their flesh is esteemed a delicacy, but, being bold, 
untamable, and very swift, they are not easily taken. 



THE WILD ASS. 37 

Hence Zophar describes the native corruption of man 
by saying, " Vain man would be wise, though man be 
born like a wild ass's colt." Job xi. 12. It was pre- 
dicted of Ishmael, " He will be a wild man," Gen. 
xvi. 12, literally "a wild-ass man," which most cor- 
rectly expresses the untamable freedom of his de- 
scendants, the Bedouin Arabs. Wicked oppressors 
are said to " go forth to their work as wild asses in 
the desert." Job xxiv. 5. They feed together in troops, 
with one of their number for a leader ; and if he is 
killed or taken, the rest disperse themselves. By their 
keen scent, they discover pools or springs in the desert 
at a great distance. 

Josephus mentions, that hunting the wild ass was a 
favourite amusement of king Herod, and that in one 
day he killed forty of these animals; they must, there- 
fore, have been much more numerous at that time in 
Palestine than in the present day. 

The two Hebrew words para and arod, both trans- 
lated " wild ass" in Job xxxix, are generally supposed 
to mean the same animal; but some understand the 
latter to be another kind of wild ass, called koulan by 
the Tartars, intermediate between the dziggtai and the 
common ass. It stands much higher than the latter in 
its limbs, and is altogether a more graceful animal. 
The mane is composed of short erect hair, of a dusky 
colour, and rather a woolly texture ; the colour of the 
body is silvery grey, with a broad coffee-coloured 
stripe down the back, from the mane to the tail, and 
crossed on the shoulders by another band, as in the 
domestic variety. The koulan inhabits Central Asia, 
from the forty-eighth degree of north latitude to the 
northern confines of India. They migrate from north 
to south according to the season. In summer they are 
commonly found about Lake Aral, but in autumn 
they collect in vast troops, under the conduct of a 
regular leader, and proceed towards the south, arriving 
at Cutch and Guzerat in October or November, and 
returning northward again in the middle of spring. 
The Persians and Tartars hold the flesh of the koulan 

5 



38 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

in high esteem, and hunt it in preference to all other 
sorts of game. 

THE ASS-THE MULE. 

Order. — Pachydermata, or Thick-skinned Quadrupeds. 

The ass is highly prized in the East, and, where pro- 
per care is bestowed on developing its form, and cul- 
tivating its spirit, occupies no mean rank among do- 
mestic animals. With us it is small, clumsy, and 
sluggish; but in Syria it is larger, well made, light- 
footed, with a sprightly pace, and carries its head high. 
White asses are highly valued, as in ancient days. 
When Deborah sang of Israel's prosperity, she ex- 
claimed, " Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that 
sit in judgment. " Judges v. 10. In simple prose nar- 
ration, the use of the ass is mentioned as a mark of 
dignity. Judges x. 3, 4 ; xii. 13, 14. When the Sa- 
viour wished to enter Jerusalem as King of Israel, he 
made use of the foal of an ass, on which never man 
sat; although naturally a high-spirited animal, and 
never before broken, it immediately became tract- 
able and submissive. Mark xi. 3 ; compare Zech. 
ix. 9 ; John xii. 14. It is not to be wondered at, 
that the ass should be employed as an image of 
strength and activity, Gen. xlix. 14, for its use as a 
beast of burden and in husbandry is not the least of 
the services it renders. Gen. xlii. 26; Neh. xiii. 15. 
When females rode, they took a guide, who accom- 
panied them with a whip. 1 Sam. xxv. 20; 2 Kings 
iv. 22 — 24. In ancient times a saddle was not used, 
and when we read of " saddling an ass," we must 
understand it only of the bridle with a saddlecloth 
and girths. Gen. xxii. 3; Num. xxii. 21; 2 Sam. xvi. 
1; xvii. 23. 

Asses made no inconsiderable part of the posses- 
sions of the patriarchs Abraham, Jacob, and others; 
Gen. xii. 16; xxiv. 35; xxx. 43; Josh. ix. 4; 1 Chron. 
v. 21. Among Job's herds five hundred she asses 
are counted, without any mention of the males, a 
much higher value being set on the female. 



THE CAMEL. 39 

"An ass's head," 2 Kings vi. 25, is equivalent to 
an ass; just as we count so many head of cattle, 
meaning so many beasts. In the same way the ex- 
pression, " Am I a dog's head ?" 2 Sam. iii. 8, is the 
same as saying, "Am I a dog?" Thus, when an 
Oriental says, "I give thee a sheep's head," he means 
a sheep. 

The mule is the offspring of the horse and the ass. 
The first time it is indisputably mentioned* in the 
Bible is in 2 Sam. xiii. 29. When Amnon was 
slain, by order of his brother Absalom, at a feast, 
where all their brothers (David's sons) were present, 
it is said, "Every man gat him upon his mule, and 
fled." Absalom was riding on a mule after his de- 
feat, when his hair was caught by the branches of a 
tree, and he was slain by Joab. 2 Sam. xviii. 9. Da- 
vid himself had a choice mule, which he directed to 
be used when Solomon was proclaimed as his suc- 
cessor. 1 Kings i. 33. Mules are among the presents 
which Solomon received from those who came from 
foreign parts to hear his wisdom. 1 Kings x. 25. 

Mules are sometimes brought from Spain, where 
they are much used, as well as in the East. Their 
strength and steadiness of foot render them useful 
animals in mountainous countries. 

The inhabitants of Armenia (called Togarmah in 
Ezek. xxvii. 14,) carried on a considerable traffic 
with Tyre in horses and mules. 



THE CAMEL. 

Order.— Ruminantia, or, Animals that chew the cud. 

The camel presents one of the most singular appear- 
ances in the animal creation. Whoever beholds, for 
the first time, its long slender legs, with the round, 

* The word translated mules in Genesis xxxvi. 24, is supposed by 
many learned men to mean "warm springs." Anah might have 
been led to them by means of his father's asses ; these animals, like 
the camel, having a very quick scent for water. 



40 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

broad foot, the long swan-like neck, the small head 
with round ears, the submissive and yet fiery look, 
the projecting upper lip, and especially the high 
natural saddle which it carries on its back, can hard- 
ly suppress a smile of wonder at so strange a sight. 
But this feeling will be soon succeeded by admiration 
of the Divine wisdom in the structure of this animal 
for the purposes of a beast of burden, on which ac- 
count it is called by the Arabians "the ship of the 
desert/' "Admirably adapted," Dr. Robinson ob- 
serves, "to the desert regions, which are their home, 
they yet constitute one of the evils which travelling 
in the desert brings with it. Their long, slow, rolling 
or rocking gait, although not at first very unpleasant, 
becomes exceedingly fatiguing, so that I have often 
been more exhausted in riding five-and-twenty miles 
upon a camel than in travelling fifty on horseback. 
Yet, without them, how could such journeys be per- 
formed at all? But their home is the desert, and 
they were made in the wisdom of the Creator to be 
the carriers of the desert. The coarse and prickly 
shrubs of the waste are to them the most delicious 
food; and even of these they eat but little. So few 
are the wants of their nature, that their power of 
going without food, as well as without water, is won- 
derful. They never appear to tire, but commonly 
march as freshly at evening as in the morning. The 
only instance I remember to the contrary was after 
our long march in returning to Hebron, when my 
young camel, on arriving at the place of encampment, 
seemed weary, and lay down of its own accord in 
order to be relieved of its load. If they once begin to 
fail, they soon lie down and die. Thus two camels of 
our train died between Suez and 'Akabah, which a 
few hours before had been travelling with full loads. 
In all our journey to Wady Musa the camels fed only 
upon shrubs, and never tasted grain of any kind, 
although once we had them loaded for thirty-six 
hours, during all which time they browsed only for 
an hour. Their well-known habit of lying down 
upon the breast to receive their burdens, is not, as 



THE CAMEL. 41 

is often supposed, merely the result of training, it is 
an admirable adaptation of their nature to their des- 
tiny as carriers. This is their natural position of 
repose, as is shown too by the callosities upon the 
joints of the legs, and especially by that upon the 
breast, which serves as a pedestal beneath the huge 
body. Hardly less wonderful is the adaptation of 
their broad-cushioned foot to the arid sands and gra- 
velly soil which it is their lot chiefly to traverse. The 
camel, in many respects, is not unlike the sheep. 
They are a silly, timid animal, gregarious, and when 
alarmed, like sheep, they run and huddle all together. 
They are commonly represented as patient ; if so, it 
is the patience of stupidity ; they are, rather, exceed- 
ingly impatient, and utter loud cries of indignation 
when receiving their load, and not seldom on being 
made to kneel down. They are also obstinate, and 
frequently vicious, and the attempt to urge them for- 
ward is often very much like trying to drive sheep 
the way they do not choose to go. The cry of a 
camel resembles, in a degree, the bleating of a sheep ; 
sometimes it is like the lowing of neat cattle, or the 
hoarse squeak of swine. But the Arabs heed not their 
cries, nor does the poor animal find much mercy at 
their hands; heavy and galling loads and meagre fare 
are its appointed portion; and God has hardened it to 
them. The singular power of the camel to go with- 
out water seems to be of the same nature as that of 
the sheep, at least in its manifestation, though in a far 
greater degree. The dew, and the juice of grass and 
herbs, are sufficient for them in ordinary cases; 
though, when the pasturage has become dry, the 
Arabs water their flocks every two days, and the 
camels every three. The longest trial to which we 
subjected our camels in respect to water, was from 
Cairo to Suez, four days; yet some of them did not 
drink even then, although they had only the driest 
fodder. But at all times the camel eats and drinks 
little, and secretes little; he is a heavy sullen animal, 
having little feeling and little susceptibility for pain. 
Thistles, and briars, and thorns he crops and chews 



42 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

with more avidity than the softest green fodder; nor 
does he seem to feel pain from blows and pricks, 
unless they are very violent. 

"There is nothing graceful or sprightly in any 
camel, old or young; all is misshapen, ungainly, and 
awkward. The young have nothing frisky or playful, 
but in all their movements are as sober and staid as 
their dams. In this respect how unlike to the lamb! 
Another important quality of the camels, is their sure- 
footedness. It was surprising to find them travelling 
with so much ease and safety up and down the most 
rugged mountain passes. They do not choose their 
way with the like sagacity as the mule, or even as 
the horse, but they tread much more surely and safe- 
ly, and never either slip or stumble.* In all our long 
journeys with them I do not recollect a single instance. 

" The sounds by which the Arabs govern their 
camels are very few and very guttural; the signal for 
kneeling is not unlike a gentle snore, and is made by 
throwing the breath strongly against the palate, but 
not through the nose; that for stopping, is a sort of 
guttural clucking."! 

Burckhardt has observed, that while the hump on 
the camel's back continues full, the animal will endure 
considerable fatigue on a very short allowance, feed- 
ing, as the Arabs say, on the fat of its own hump. 
After a long journey the hump almost entirely sub- 
sides, and it is not till after three or four months' 
repose, and a considerable time after the rest of the 
carcass has acquired flesh, it resumes its natural size, 
of one fourth of the whole body. 

The Arabian Camel, or Dromedary, is distinguished 
by a single bunch on the back ; the Bactrian Camel 
has two. The ordinary rate of a camel's walk is 

* This assertion must be taken with some limitation. The camel 
is essentially fitted for the level sandy desert, and not for rocky 
places, where it not unfrequently stumbles. '' We ascended the rock 
we had to pass to come at the village of Zaboo, and on our descending 
my camel slipped his foot on one side and rolled down the rock, the 
height of about twenty feet, taking me of course along with him." — - 
Belzoni's Egypt and Nubia. 

t Robinson's Biblical Researches, vol. ii, 632 — 635. 



THE COW, OX, AND HEIFER. 43 

about two and one-third English miles per hour, 
when in full progress. 

Camels are mentioned in Scripture as forming part 
of the riches of the patriarchs. Gen. xii. 16. Gen. xxx. 
43; Job. i. 3; xlii. 12. They were made use of by 
the Amalekites, and other tribes, in their predatory 
expeditions, as they are employed by the Bedouin 
Arabs in the present day. 

Milch camels are mentioned as part of the present 
which Jacob sent to his brother Esau, Gen. xxxii. 15; 
and camels' milk is now a chief article in the diet of 
the Arabs. They drink it either fresh or sour; in the 
latter state it has an intoxicating quality. They also 
give it to their horses, and to the foals when weaned. 
It is richer and better than that of goats. Its flesh, 
though forbidden to the Jews, Lev. xi. 4, is eaten by 
the Arabs; it is coarse-grained, and inferior to beef. 

Camels' hair was woven into a coarse kind of cloth. 
Matt. iii. 4. The two-humped camel is not noticed in 
Scripture. 

An attempt was made to introduce the ordinary 
camel into Europe, about the middle of the sixteenth 
century, at Pisa, in Italy. The stud consisted of 
about two hundred camels, and was afterwards in- 
creased by importations from Tunis, but soon degene- 
rated. This animal is alluded to in several proverbial 
expressions. Thus our Lord declares, "It is easier 
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than 
for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven," Matt. 
xix. 24; and again, "Ye strain at (out) a gnat, and 
swallow a camel." Matt, xxiii. 24. There is an Ara- 
bian proverb of a similar kind, " He swallows an 
elephant, and is strangled by a flea." 



THE COW, OX, AND HEIFER. 

Order. — Ruminantia, or, Animals that chew the cud. 

The ox and the cow are well known; we will begin 
by noticing a few passages in which they are used 



44 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



figuratively. Of Joseph it is said, " His glory is like 
the firstling of his bullock." Deut. xxxiii. 17. 

Esypt is like a very fair heifer — 

Also her hired men are in the midst of her 

Like fatted bullocks.— Jer- xlvi. 20. 

O ye destroyers of mine heritage ! 

Because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, 

And bellow as bulls. — Jer. 1. 11. 

Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, 

And loveth to tread out the corn. — Hos. x. 11. 

These expressions may strike us as very strange, 
unaccustomed as we are to a pastoral life. But to a 
Syrian shepherd his first-born bullock was like a bo- 
som friend; his young cow was an image of all that 
was beautiful; his mare he would call a princess; and 
his horse, a sheikh, or chief. Phrases of this sort, 
"A man like a buffalo/' or, "A woman like a cow,"* 
would sound to us like expressions of contempt; but 
among a people whose riches consisted chiefly in 
flocks and herds, it was quite different. When the 
sultan of Darfur, a country near Abyssinia, sits down 
on his throne, a herald proclaims before him " Behold 
the buffalo ! the son of the buffalo ! the bull of bulls ! 
the elephant in strength !" and the people bow the 
knee before him. 




Oxen and Yoke. 

The ox, whose whole structure renders it fit for the 
plough, was employed from the earliest times as a 

* Homer calls Juno " ox-eyed," an epithet in compliment to her 
beauty. 



THE COW, OX, AND HEIFER. 45 

beast of draught, and also to carry burdens. Num. vii. 
3 — 8. The ox was not put under the yoke till three 
years old. Oxen were trained to the draught in the 
easiest manner by the threshing machine. In the 
middle of the field, a post was driven into the ground, 
and a long pole fastened to it, so that it turned round 
the post, like the spoke of a wheel round the axle. 
To this pole, from six to twelve, or more, cattle, were 
fastened, and driven round till the ground was trodden 
quite hard. Then the threshing-floor was swept; the 
sheaves were laid down, and trodden out by the cattle, 
unmuzzled. Threshing-time was, therefore, a golden 
time for the cattle, and an image to the Israelites of 
prosperous days; while ploughing, as the hardest la- 
bour, was a symbol of adversity. Hosea x. 1 1 ; Deut. 
xxv. 4; 1 Cor. ix. 9; 1 Tim. v. 18. Another kind of 
threshing was with the threshing-wain, which is still 
very common in Syria and Egypt. The threshing- 
wain is a kind of roller with teeth, over which is 
placed a seat for the driver. If the grain is hard, the 
seat is made heavier with stones, Isa. xxviii. 28; by 
such threshing all the straw is reduced as small as 
chaff. Mat. iii. 12; Psal. i. 4. But this did not render 
it worthless, as it was collected, and made use of as 
fodder in the winter. This effect of threshing was 
considered as an image of desolation. Amos i. 3. 

Our young readers will be interested with a descrip- 
tion, by an eye-witness, of threshing, as it is practised 
in the present day in Palestine. " The wheat, as soon 
as it is cut," says Dr. Robinson, " is brought in small 
sheaves to the threshing-floor, on the backs of asses, or 
sometimes of camels. The little donkeys are often so 
covered with their load of grain as to be themselves 
hardly visible; one sees only a mass of sheaves moving 
along, as if of its own accord. A level spot is selected 
for the threshing-floors, which are then constructed 
near each other, of a circular form, perhaps fifty feet 
in diameter, merely by beating down the earth hard. 
Upon these the sheaves are spread out quite thick, and 
the grain is trodden out by animals. Here were no 
less than five such floors, all trodden by oxen, cows, 



46 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

and younger cattle, arranged in each case five abreast, 
and driven round in a circle, or rather, in all directions 
over the floor. The sledge is not here in use, though 
we afterwards met with it in the north of Palestine. 
The ancient machine with rollers we saw nowhere.* 
By this process the straw is broken up, and becomes 
chaff. It is occasionally turned with a large wooden 
fork having two prongs, and, when sufficiently trod- 
den, is thrown up with the same fork against the wind, 
in order to separate the grain, which is then gathered 
up and winnowed. The whole process is exceedingly 
wasteful, from the transportation on the backs of the 
animals, to the treading out upon the ground. The pre- 
cept of Moses, ' Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when 
he treadeth out the corn,' was not very well regarded 
by our Christian friends, while, among the Moham- 
medans, I do not remember ever to have seen an ani- 
mal muzzled." t 

When the heifer, by the light and pleasant labour 
of threshing, had been accustomed to be fastened to a 
pole, a yoke was placed on her neck, and she was 
worked with the plough. Ploughing with cattle is 
mentioned in the book of Job. In ploughing, the 
husbandmen, in order to drive the cattle, instead of a 
whip made use of a goad, several feet in length, with 
an iron point. In threshing, the young cow might be 
sometimes restive, but if it kicked the goad was driven 
into its leg, so that it soon gave over. Many a war- 
rior, in case of necessity, made use of such a goad 
instead of a lance. Judg. iii. 31; 2 Sam. xxiii. 21. 

The largest breed of cattle was that of Bashan, 
although they were not directly brought from Bashan. 
The ox was held so sacred by the Egyptians, who 
owed their whole prosperity, in the first place, to the 
overflowing of the Nile, and then to ploughing, that 
they abhorred the Israelites, who used cattle for food ; 
from which they not only abstained, but even made 

* Isa. xxviii. 27. Niebuhr found it still in use in Egypt, Reiseb. i. 
151, called " norei." Lane also found it under the same name. See 
Winer, i. 324. 

f Biblical Researches, vol. ii. p. 277. 



TIIE SHEEP. 47 

gods of these animals. But the Israelites became so 
infected with this idolatry from their intercourse with 
the Egyptians, that they made a golden calf, and wor- 
shipped it while they were in the wilderness. 

As cattle formed the principal possession of the 
Israelites, it was a cutting reproof of parsimony and 
ill-managed housekeeping to be without them: 

Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: 

But much increase is by the strength of the ox. — Prov. xiv. 4. 

For in Judea, he who was not too idle to cultivate 
the ground could not fail of acquiring a maintenance. 



THE SHEER 

Order. — Ruminantia, or, Animals that chew the cud. 

There are two varieties of this well-known and use- 
ful animal in Syria. The first, called the Bedoween, 
differs little from the largest breed known among us, 
excepting that its tail is somewhat longer and thicker. 
The other, called the broad-tailed sheep,* is distin- 
guished by long hanging ears, and by a still larger 
tail, having two large masses of fat on each side of it, 
'which often weigh from forty to fifty pounds. It is a 
part of the animal frequently referred to in Leviticus 
(hi. 9; vii. 3.; viii. 25; ix. 19.) In the English ver- 
sion the Hebrew word alyah, is translated rump, 
which rather obscures the sense. The first passage is 
more correctly rendered by Dr. Boothroyd: "The 
large fat tail entire, taken off close to the rump." It 
was sometimes supported by a board, or small two- 
wheeled cart. At the present day the fat, which is 
very rich, is often used instead of butter or oil, and 
eaten with lean meat or rice. 

The colour of the sheep in the East is generally 
white, like our own, but sometimes black, speckled, or 

* " The sheep of Palestine are all of the broad-tailed species ; the 
broad part being a mere excrescence of fat, with the proper tail hang- 
ing out of it." — Robinson's Biblical Researches, vol. ii. p. 163. 



48 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

striped, as we learn from the history of Laban, Gen. 

XXX. 

These animals made an important part of the pos- 
sessions of the Israelites, and other eastern nations. In 
the wars between different tribes, they are generally 
enumerated among the booty taken by the conquerors. 
Joshua vi. 21; 1 Sam. xiv. 32; xv. 3; 1 Chron. v. 
21. They are mentioned as an article of traffic in 
Ezek. xxvii. 21. The patriarchs had large flocks in 
Palestine ; as Abraham, Gen. xxiv. 35 ; Isaac, xxvi. 
14 ; Jacob, xxx. 43 : and afterwards their descendants 
in the land of Goshen, Gen. xlvi. 32 ; xlvii. 3. In 
Palestine extensive plains and mountainous districts 
were devoted to pasturage, for this and other kinds of 
cattle, such as the plain of Sharon, Isa. lxv. 10 ; Mount 
Carmel, Bashan, and Gilead. Mic. vii. 14. Sheep were 
sometimes made use of as tribute ; thus we are told, 
that " Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheep-master, and 
rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand 
lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with their 
wool." 2 Kings iii. 4. The flocks of the Kedarenes, 
(descendants of Kedar the son of Ishmael,) and " the 
rams of Nebaioth," (so named from Ishmael's first- 
born, Gen. xxv. 13,) are also particularly mentioned in 
Scripture. " The flocks of Kedar shall be gathered 
together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister 
unto thee." Isa. lx. 7. In the patriarchal times the flocks 
were tended not only by the daughters of their own- 
ers — for in the East all drudgery devolves on the fe- 
males — but by the sons, which shows that it was origi- 
nally considered an honourable employment: " Rachel 
came with her father's sheep : for she kept them." Gen. 
xxix. 9. " Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and 
also our fathers," said the sons of Jacob to Pharaoh, 
Gen. xlvii. 3 ; but at a later period, hired servants and 
menials were employed : " He that is an hireling, and 
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth 
the wolf coming, and leaveih the sheep." John x. 12. 
It was customary for the Jews, like the Arabians in the 
present day, to give names to individual sheep. The 
same practice was common in Greece, as we learn from 



THE SHEEP. 49 

a passage in the poet Theocritus. Nor is it unknown 
in Germany, for " a shepherd lately told me," says Dr. 
Barth, " that in half a year he could easily train a flock 
of two hundred sheep to answer each one to its own 
name." An interesting illustration of this practice, and 
of the scriptural allusion, is contained in the Journal of 
the Rev. John Hartley. " Having had my attention 
directed last night," says Mr. H. "to the words in John 
x. 3, I asked my man if it was usual in Greece to give 
names to the sheep. He informed me that it was, and 
that the sheep obeyed the shepherd when he called 
them by their names. This morning I had an oppor- 
tunity of verifying the truth of this remark. Passing 
by a flock of sheep, I asked the shepherd the same ques- 
tion which I had put to the servant, and he gave me 
the same answer. I then bade him call one of his 
sheep. He did so, and it instantly left its pasturage 
and its companions, and ran up to the hands of the 
shepherd with signs of pleasure, and with a prompt 
obedience which I had never before observed in any 
other animal. It is also true of the sheep in this coun- 
try, that 'a stranger will they not follow, but will flee 
from him.' The shepherd told me, that many of his 
sheep were still wild, that they had not yet learned their 
names, but that by teaching them they would all learn 
them. The others which knew their names he would 
call tame. How natural an application," continues 
Mr. Hartley, " does this description of the sheep admit 
of! The good Shepherd laid down his life for the 
sheep ; but many of them are still wild ; they know not 
his voice. Others have learned to obey his call, and to 
follow him ; and we rejoice to think that even to those 
not yet in his fold the words are applicable, ' Them 
also I must bring.' "* 

It is worthy of remark, that in Scripture a shepherd 
is always said to lead, not to drive a flock, because the 
Hebrew shepherds always went before their sheep, and 
induced them to follow by a peculiar call. Thus, our 

* Researches in Greece and the Levant, ly the Rev. J. Hartley : 
London, 1831, p.. 321. 

6 



50 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

Saviour says, "When the shepherd putteth forth his 
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow 
him : for they know his voice." John x. 4. And Asaph, 
in Psa. lxxx. 1, thus addresses Jehovah, " Give ear, 
Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a 
flock." The same custom prevails now in the East, 
and in Spain. In Russia, also, a peasant may often be 
seen marching through a village in the morning, play- 
ing on a pipe, on hearing which the animals come forth 
from their homesteads, and follow him to the pastures. 
The cattle are brought home in the evening, and called 
to be milked, in the same manner. In general, the 
flocks remained during the night, as well as by day, in 
the open air ; thus we read in Luke ii. 8, that " there 
were in the same country shepherds abiding in the 
field, keeping watch over their flock by night ;" but 
when exposed to predatory incursions, or the attacks 
of wild beasts, the shepherds drove them into caves, or 
into uncovered enclosures, erected for the purpose. 
Thus the Reubenitesand Gaditessaid to Moses, "We 
will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for 
our little ones." Numb, xxxii. 16. When the flocks 
were very large, and required several shepherds, one 
of superior ability was chosen to superintend the rest; 
in allusion to this custom, the apostle Peter styles our 
Saviour " the chief Shepherd." 1 Peter v. 4. 

The sheep is proverbially an emblem of meekness 
and gentleness. In reference to these qualities, as ex- 
emplified in our blessed Redeemer, it is said, in Isa. liii. 
" He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a 
sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not 
his mouth." With an evident allusion to the victims 
slain under the law, for the atonement of sin, of which 
he was the great antitype, he is styled, emphatically, 
" the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the 
world." John i. 29. In the book of Daniel, a ram 
with two horns is employed as a symbol of the kings 
of Media and Persia. Dan. viii. 20. The Jews are 
frequently spoken of as the sheep of God, and their 
priests and rulers as shepherds. " We are his people, 
and the sheep of his pasture." Psa. c. 3 ; xcv. 7. " My 



THE GOAT. 51 

people hath been lost sheep : their shepherds have 
caused them to go astray." Jer. 1. 6. Christ said to 
his disciples, " Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the 
midst of wolves." Matt. x. 16. 

We have already noticed the beautiful representa- 
tion given of the Saviour, as " the good Shepherd, who 
laid down his life for the sheep," who was at once "the 
offering and the priest." But let us not be satisfied 
with simply perceiving the exquisite beauty and pro- 
priety of the imagery of the Bible, while we neglect 
the practical application of the truth which that ima- 
gery is employed to convey. Can we say with the 
psalmist, " I have gone astray like a lost sheep ; seek 
thy servant ; for I do not forget thy commandments?" 
Psa. cxix. 176. Are we still wanderers from the fold 
of God, still " wiid," to use the expression of the 
Greek mentioned by Mr. Hartley; or have we listened 
to the voice of the heavenly Shepherd, and are we 
following in his footsteps? 

Thou Keeper of a lovely flock, 

Thyself far lovelier still, 
Beneath the overshadowing rock, 

Thy sheep are safe from ill. 

Oh may I always hear thy voice, 

Nor ever wander more ; 
But in thy constant care rejoice, 

Thy dying love adore. 

All gentleness and love thou art; 

Oh may I also be 
Humble and lowly, pure in heart, 

And more, my Lord, like thee ! 



THE GOAT. 

Order. — Ruminantia, or, Animals that chew the cud. 

In Palestine, there are two varieties of the goat. The 
first is longer and slenderer than the sort known in this 
country, with short hair, generally fawn-coloured, 
small horns, very long hanging ears, and a thick 
shaggy tail. The other kind resembles our own, is 
for the most part black, and very shaggy, especially 
the male. The missionary Schulz, writing from Leba- 



52 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



lion, gives the following account of these animals. " We 
pitched our tenis near a brook, and witnessed the man- 
ner in which the goats are led down from the moun- 
tains, in order to drink at the brook. There were two 
herds, of a light reddish colour, with long hair and 
hanging ears. These goats are called in Arabic kemmel; 




STRIAX GOAT. 

they are shorn like sheep, and their hair is sold under 
the name of camel's hair. The yarn which is pur- 
chased in Europe for camel's hair is mixed and adul- 
terated with wool. Goats, such as I have described, 
are most numerous in Gilead and Angora, in Lesser 
Asia. The hair of these animals was probably that 
employed in making curtains for the tabernacle. Exod. 
xxv. 4. As they descended from the mountains, I 
was reminded of the expression in the Song of Solo- 
mon, (iv. 1,) "Thy hair is as a flock of goats, that 
appear from Mount Gilead." Goats' milk was formerly, 
as it is now, a favourite article of food in the East : 
hence in Pro v. xxvii. 27, it is promised as one of the 
rewards of industry, "Thou shalt have goats' milk 
enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, 
and the maintenance for thy maidens." The flesh 
of the young animal was also highly esteemed. See 



THE IBEX. 



53 



Gen. xxvii. 9; Judges vi. 19; xiii. 15; 1 Sam. xvi. 20. 
It is difficult to explain the command, " Thou shalt 
not seethe a kid in his mother's milk," which is given 
twice in Exodus, (xxiii. 19 ; xxxiv. 26,) and once in 
Deuteronomy, (xiv. 21.) The most probable opinion 
is that it was intended to oppose an idolatrous practice 
of using the broth thus made, to sprinkle the trees, 
fields, and gardens, which was supposed to increase 
their fruitfulness by a certain magical influence. It 
confirms this view of the subject, that in Exodus the 
precept is given in connexion with the laws concern- 
ing the season of ingathering and presenting the first- 
fruits to the Lord. 




- 










THE TBEX. 



The wild goat, (Hebrew, akko,) mentioned in 
Deut. xiv. 5, is supposed by some to be the ibex. Its 
horns sometimes measure more than four feet in length, 
knotted with a series of rings, and arching backwards. 
The colour of the animal is greyish yellow above, and 
dull white on the under parts, with a brown band along 
the flanks, and a black line down the spine. In win- 

6* 



54 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

ter it has an additional coat of long coarse hair, which 
is shed as summer comes on, leaving the under coat 
short and fine. Another species of goat the Abyssi- 
nian, or Jaal ibex, appears to be intended in Job xxxix. 
1; 1 Sam. xxiv. 2; and in Psal. civ. 18, where the 
name in the original is yaal, (and yaalim, plural.) 
The female defends her young with great boldness and 
dexterity against eagles, wolves, and other enemies, 
by concealing them in a cave, and standing on guard 
at the entrance. 

The "bottles" mentioned in Scripture, (Gen. xxi. 
15; Josh. ix. 4; Matt. ix. 17, etc.) were made of the 
skins of kids or goats, which are still employed for the 
same purpose in eastern countries. Dr. Robinson saw 
at Hebron a large manufactory of water-skins, which 
occupied an extensive yard, with several tanners' vats. 
They were merely the skins of goats stripped off 
whole, except at the neck, the holes at the legs and 
tail being sewed up. They are first stuffed out full, 
and strained by driving in small billets and chips of 
oak wood, and are then filled with a strong infusion 
of oak-bark for a certain time, until the hair becomes 
fixed, and the skin sufficiently tanned. This consti- 
tutes the whole process. Not less than fifteen hun- 
dred skins were lying, thus stuffed, in rows about the 
yard. They are sold at different prices, from fifteen 
to forty piastres. 

In flocks of goats, the strongest and boldest act as 
leaders; this explains Jer. 1. 8; "Go forth out of the 
land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before 
the flocks." 

The prophet Daniel describes Macedonia under the 
symbol of a goat with one horn; and an ancient bronze 
figure of a goat with one horn has been dug up in 
Asia Minor. The same figure is seen on the reverse 
of a coin of Archelaus, king of Macedon. The horn 
is represented as growing out of the middle of the 
forehead, but curved backward. 



THE HART. 55 

THE HART. 

Order. — Ruminantia, or, Animals that chew the cud. 

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O 
God.— Psalm xlii. J. 

The original word, here rendered " hart," {ayal,) and 
the feminine, hind, (ayalah,) seems to be a general 
name for animals of the deer, or of the antelope kind. 
Such animals suffer much when they have been chased 
from their favourite haunts, and are afraid to return 
to the water lest they should be again molested. But 
when compelled by the unconquerable wants of na- 
ture to venture, the intense eagerness they exhibit 
beautifully verifies the comparison employed by the 
psalmist, Psal. xlii. 1. Can we apply this language 
to ourselves, or must we not confess that not God, the 
living God, but some earthly good, is the object of 
deepest interest to our souls? 

The fallow deer, which is the kind usually kept 
in English parks, is met with in large numbers on 
Mounts Carmel and Tabor. Its colour is a darkish 
brown in winter, but in summer bay, spotted with 
white, and one variety is milk-white. It is smaller 
than the red deer, or stag, but very similar in its form 
and general habits; it differs, however, from it in the 
shape of the horns ; those of the fallow deer being 
flat, while those of the stag are round. This orna- 
ment, and instrument of defence or attack, does not 
appear till the second year, and is shed every succes- 
sive spring; the first season it is single like a dagger, 
and every year increases, when renewed, in the num- 
ber of antlers, snags, or tines, as they are sometimes 
called ; this takes place with some regularity till the 
animal is seven years old, after which the number of 
antlers is indeterminate. One, belonging to the first 
king of Prussia, had thirty-three. 

These animals were accounted clean by the Mosaic 
law, Deut. xiv. 5, and are mentioned among the arti- 



56 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

cles of daily consumption in Solomon's household. 
1 Kings iv. 23. 

The roebuck (Hebrew, tsebi) is considerably less 
than the fallow deer, being little more than two feet 
in height ; its form is elegant, and its motions light 
and easy. When hunted, it begins, after a first dash 
forward, to mislead the hounds by doubling over its 
track, and then by some great bounds it springs off to 
a cover, while the pack pass by. They do not keep 
together in herds like other deer, but live in separate 
families. 

It seems most probable, however, that by the word 
translated roebuck in the English version, is intended 
a species of antelope, called gazelle. It is remark- 
able for fine eyes, and the general elegance of its 
figure; and from this circumstance probably derives 
its name, which signifies " loveliness." u You have 
the eyes of an antelope," is at the present day a com- 
mon compliment in the East. In 2 Sam. ii. 18, Asa- 
hel is said to be swift of foot as a tsebi; of the Gadites 
it is said, " They were as swift as the roes (tsebaim) 
upon the mountains," 1 Chron. xii. 8; and antelopes 
are proverbial for their fieetness. The swiftest dogs 
and horses are left far behind in the pursuit of these 
animals, and they can only be caught by artifice. 

The pygarg, (Hebrew, dishon,) of which the name 
occurs only once in the Bible, Deut. xiv. 5, is sup- 
posed to be a larger kind of antelope. The "wild ox," 
mentioned in the same passage, may be the antelope, 
leucoryx, a species frequently represented on the 
monuments of Egypt and Nubia, and particularly in 
the inner chamber of the great pyramid at Memphis, 
where a whole group of these animals is represented, 
some driven or pushed forward, and others led by the 
horns, or by a cord about the neck, apparently by 
way of tribute from some conquered nation. With 
one exception, these representations are in profile, so 
that only one horn is seen. 

It is quite uncertain what animal is intended by 
the Hebrew word zemer, translated chamois, in Deut. 
xiv. 5: it cannot be the species so called; for the 



THE HOG. 57 

Alps, Pyrenees, mountains of Greece, and the islands 
of the Archipelago, are almost the only places where 
it is to be found. The Septuagint, St. Jerome, and 
some modern critics, render it the cameleopard, but 
this animal is exclusively African, being a native both 
of Southern Africa, and also of Nubia and Abyssinia. 
If known in Palestine, it was only from report, or 
from individuals captured in Nubia, and brought there 
as objects of curiosity. Hence the cameleopard, or 
giraffe, could not have been used as an ordinary arti- 
cle of food; so that a law, either to prohibit or permit 
its use, could hardly be supposed to be given. Might 
it not be the wild sheep? 



THE HOG. 

Order.— Pachijilermata, or, Thick-skinned Quadrupeds. 

The hog is an example of herbivorous animals, with 
divided toes, which do not chew the cud. This ani- 
mal is found wild in the East, and also in the forests 
of continental Europe, excepting the very coldest lati- 
tudes. It is an obstinate, untractable, stupid animal, 
and both in a wild and tame state is distinguished by 
its unsightly figure and awkward movements. Its 
uncleanness is proverbial among all nations, as well 
as in the Bible; and not less so is its ungovernable 
fury and eagerness for destroying every thing within 
its reach, when provoked. It lives and thrives on 
every kind of food, vegetable or animal, and for this 
reason has been domesticated from the earliest ages 
among various nations, both of Europe and Asia. No 
animal converts a given quantity of corn or other 
nourishing food so soon into fat, or can be fattened on 
so great a variety of food. In a wild state, it lives 
upon grass, roots, acorns, beechmast, and wild fruits. 
The use of swine's flesh was forbidden by the Mosaic 
law. It was also disallowed by the Egyptians, Phe- 
nicians, and Arabians. The ancient Greek historian 
Herodotus informs us, that if an Egyptian by accident 



53 bcbiftube natural btstoby. 

touched a hog, he immediately plunged himself, clothes 
and all, into the water. Swineherds were not allowed 
to enter their temples; yet sometimes they sacrificed 
this animal, and afterwards feasted on its flesh. They, 
therefore, sometimes ate poik; so that the prohibition 
of Moses tended to preserve the Hebrews from at least 
one act of idolatry. The chief reason, however, why 
it was forbidden seems to be its unwholesomeness in 
warm climates, and especially its tendency to produce 
leprosy, or other disorders of the skin. Mohammed, in 
the Koran, forbids the eating of pork; but the Mo- 
hammedans, though they do not eat it themselves, 
if they meet with a wild hog will take it, dead or 
alive, and sell its flesh to Christians. The prophet 
Isaiah mentions the eating of swine's flesh as one 
mark of impiety in the rebellious Jews. Isa. lxv. 4; 
lxvi. 17. On the other hand, in the dreadful persecu- 
tion of the Jews by Antiochus, there were many noble 
examples of persons who would rather die than vio- 
late the Divine command by partaking of such food. 
With respect to the herd of swine mentioned in the 
Gospels. Matt, viii; Mark v; Luke viii, it may be 
remarked, that while the Mosaic law forbad the using 
them for food, Hyrcanus had also passed a law pro- 
hibiting the Jews from keeping swine. The loss of 
these animals was therefore a just punishment of their 
disobedience; and the disposition they showed on this 
occasion in being more impressed with the loss of 
their property than with the Divine power manifested 
by the Saviour, proves how well they deserved correc- 
tion. 

When Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem, he set up the 
image of a hog on the gates of the city, to deter the 
Jews from entering it, and to express his contempt 
for them. 



THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 



59 



iiirropoTAMUs.-ce^ /A. 



Order.— Pachy-lcrmata, or, Thiek-akioned Qaadropofo 
Behold now behemoth, wbicfa I made with thee; be eatetk jraw as an ox. 

Job ll. J & 




the hippopota:.: 

It is now generally supposed, that the animal de- 
scribed in the book of Job under the name of behe- 
moth, is no other than the river-horse or hippopotamus. 
The male has been found seventeen feet in length, 
fifteen in circumference, and seven in height. The 
head is enormously large, and the jaws extend up- 
wards of two feet, and are armed with four cutting 
teeth, each of which is twelve inches in length. The 
animal is of one uniform colour, similar to a light tint 
of Indian ink; the hide, above an inch in thickness, is 
hardly flexible; the ribs are covered with a thick layer 
of fat, which when salted and dried, is esteemed as a 
delicacy. The food of this animal consists chiefly of 
grass and aquatic plants; though it is also fond of rice 
and the sugar-cane, and often lays waste the fields 



60 8CSIPT9BE NATrilVL HISTORY. 

which arc planted with these productions. Such is its 
strength, that it will sometimes overset heavy-laden 
boats, or break them in pieces with its teeth. Its skin 
is not, as in the elephant, soft under the belly, but as 
thick as in other parts, and is rendered, in some de- 
gree, more callous from being dragged over the rough 
stones at the bottom of the river. The tail is not con- 
siderable iu proportion to its body, but can be moved 
and twisted at pleasure. Ii swims with ease, and can 
remain for some lime under water: but when it rises 
it spouts forth a quantity of water through its nostrils 
like tin- whale. Its voice is a harsh and heavy sound, 
like tii" creaking of a large door: it is uttered when 
it raises its huge head out of the water, and when it 
retires !■» it again. 

We arc assured by naturalists, that the hippopotamus 
is restricted exclusively to the African continent, where 
it is universally spread, being found from the provinces 
of Nubia, Abyssinia, and Dongola,to the boundary of 
the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, wherever 
deep rivers afford it an asylum. Formerly it was com- 
mon within the boundary of the colony at the Cape, 
but is now rarely, if ever, to be met with in the Berg 
river, where it once abounded. This circumstance 
may be attributed to the fire-arms of the Europeans, 
before which weapons the wild beasts of the desert 
retire. 

During the residence of the Israelites in Egypt they 
must have had their observations frequently called to 
this huge animal, since it is, and was, common in the 
Nile, if not immediately in the neighbourhood of the 
great cities, at least above the Cataract of Assouan, in 
Nubia and Abyssinia. 

According to Burckhardt, the hippopotamus is abun- 
dant in Dongola, (l where it is a dreadful plague, on 
account of its voracity, and the want of means in the 
inhabitants to destroy it. If often descends the Nile 
as far as Sukkot. In 1812, several of them passed the 
Bahr el Hadjar, and made their appearance at Wady 
Haifa and Den, an occurrence unknown to the oldest 
inhabitants. Another continued its course northward, 



the Hirroi'oT.w.rs. 

and was seen beyond the Cataract of Assouan at Do- 
ran, one day's march north of that place." 

The writer of the article on the hippopotamus in the 
"Menageries," vol. iii. says. *We learn from Mr. 
Salt that it is in the district of Abyssinia, watered by 
the river Tacazse, a noble tributary to the Nile, that 
this animal abounds. Its Abyssinian name is go- 
ma ri." 

•• Mr. Salt had seareely reached the bank of that 
Stream, when he' heard a noise in tlx- water, and his 
attendants crying out. Gomari ! (Ionian ! Upon that 
occasion, however, he only obtained a momentary 
view of the immense creature, whose action in the 
stream he compares to the rolling "fa grampus in the 
sea. Advancing along the line of the river, our travel- 
ler found it interrupted by frequent overfalls, and shal- 
low feeds. He! ween these shallows he observed holes 
or pits of almost immeasurable depth, and which very 
much resembled the small lochs or tarns found among 

the mountains of the north of England and Scotland. 

It is to these depths that the hippopotami delight to 
resort. Mr. Salt soon came to one where several of" 

them were assembled, and having crossed the river at 
a ford, and gained a high overhanging rock that com- 
manded the deep pool, he and his party prepared their 
muskets. They did not remain long on the spot before 
they discovered, at the distance of only twenty yards, 
a hippopotamus rising above the surface of the water. 
The animal came up very confidently, elevating its 
enormous head above the water, and snorting violent- 
ly in a manner somewhat resembling the noise made 
by a porpns. The instant the head was exposed, three 
of the party fired, but though the contents of their guns 
appeared to hit it on the forehead, the animal merely 
turned its head round with an angry look, and making 
a sudden plunge, sank down to the bottom, uttering 
a noise that was something between a grunt and a 
roar. 

" Mr. Salt and his companions could not but fancy 
they had killed, or at least seriously wounded, the 

7 



62 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

monster, and expected every moment to see its huge 
body float up to the surface. But a hippopotamus is 
not so easily killed. In a few minutes, indeed, it rose 
up, and nearly in the same place, but apparently 
unhurt, and little concerned at what had happened, 
though rather more cautious than at its former ap- 
pearance. - Again several guns were fired at it, with 
no more effect than before ; and though some of the 
party, eager in the sport, remained at their posts all 
day, and fired at every hippopotamus that appeared, 
there was, after all, no evidence to show that the 
slightest impression was made on any of them. This," 
says Mr. Salt, "can only be attributed to our having 
used leaden balls, which are too soft to enter the 
impenetrable skulls of these creatures, as we repeat- 
edly observed the balls strike against their heads. 
Balls composed of tin mixed with lead would have 
been more effective. 

•'Towards the end of the day, and after all the 
firing, they came up with extreme wariness, merely 
putting their nostrils above the level of the stream, 
breathing hard and spouting up the water like the 
jets of fountains. 

" It appears from what Mr. Salt witnessed, that the 
hippopotamus cannot remain more than five or six 
minutes at a time under water, being obliged to come 
up to the surface in the course of some such interval 
for the purpose of respiration. One of the most 
interesting parts of the amusement was, to observe 
the ease with which these animals quietly dropped 
down to the bottom; for the water being clear, they 
could be distinctly seen so low as twenty feet beneath 
the surface." 

Burckhardt met with the hippopotamus in abun- 
dance in Dongola, as also did Dr. E. Ruppell. This 
latter traveller states, that the natives of Dongola 
attack it with the harpoon while asleep, or while 
grazing at night in the corn-fields, but that the dan- 
ger is great, for that if the hippopotamus discovers 
the huntsman before he can throw his weapon, the 



THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 63 

animal rushes at him with the utmost fury, and 
crushes him at once in his wide open mouth. 

In the water, to which, when wounded, the animal 
plunges, the danger is very great; irritated by the 
pain of the harpoon, to which a line is attached, the 
monster endeavours to overset the boat, in which are 
his assailants, ready with fresh harpoons to throw 
when he rises; and he often succeeds, and destroys 
both boat and men. In fact, so hazardous is this 
mode, that one or two only are yearly killed; and 
Dr. Ruppell observes, that from 1821 to 1S23 inclu- 
sive, only nine were killed, of which his own party 
despatched four by means of their guns, a swivel, 
(small cannon,) from which latter five balls, besides 
balls from muskets, were fired, before one of those in 
question was destroyed. 

Richard and John Lander observed these animals 
in the Niger " in incredible multitudes," and ran 
some narrow risks from them, as they splashed, snort- 
ed, and plunged around the canoe. The first fired 
at, of course without injury, though almost within a 
gun's length off, roused a multitude from the bottom 
of the river, which gave chase to the canoe, and it 
was with the utmost difficulty that the party escaped. 
We might extend our pages upon this animal with 
extracts from Clapperton, Owen, Sparrmann, and 
others, but we have said enough to give the reader 
some idea of the tremendous power of this formida- 
ble animal, and of the danger of attacking it. " His 
bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like 
bars of iron. He lieth under the shady trees, in the 
covert of the reed, and fens. The shady trees cover 
him with their shadow; the willows of the brook 
compass him about. Behold, he drinketh up a river, 
and hasteth not : he trusteth that he can draw up 
Jordan into his mouth. He taketh it with his eyes : 
his nose pierceth through snares." Job xl. 15 — 24. 



61 SCRII'TIRE NATOTKAl HISTORY. 

THE ELEPHANT, 

Ukder — Fachyilcrmata, or Thick-skim. t-ri Quadropedi 




THE ELEPHANT. 

TnE elephant is well known as the largest, strongest, 
and, excepting perhaps the dog, the most intelligent 
of any existing species of quadruped. There are two 
kinds, the African and the Asiatic. The latter differs 
from the former not only in its greater size, and in the 
characters of the teeth and skull, but also in the com- 
parative smallness of the ears, the paler brown colour 
of the skin, and in having four nails on the hind feet 
instead of three. The height of a full-grown one is 
nine, or perhaps ten feet, and the body has been found 
to weigh between four and five thousand pounds. 

The trunk, or proboscis, is an organ peculiar to this 
animal. It is composed of many thousands of small 
muscles, variously interlaced, so as to render it capable 
of extension, contraction, and motion in every direc- 
tion; possessing exquisite sensibility, nearly eight 
feet in length, and stont in proportion to the size of the 
animal. This organ, as the elephant pleases, will up- 
root trees, gather grass, raise a piece of artillery, or 
pick up a comfit, kill a man, or brush off a fly. It 
conveys the food to the mouth, and pumps up enor- 



THE ELEPHANT. 65 

mous draughts of water, which, by bending it back, 
can be poured into the throat, or showered over its 
own body, or other objects. Its length supplies the 
place of a long neck, which would have been incom- 
patible with the support of its large head and weighty 
tusks. The grinders, which are very solid and heavy, 
are changed in rotation, so that there are either two, 
or one on each side in the upper and lower jaw. In 
the African, the flat surfaces of these teeth are marked 
with large, irregular, lozenge-shaped ribands, passing 
from side to side; while in the Asiatic, these ribands 
are narrow, with indented edges, and fold upon each 
other in parallel lines. 

Elephants have no canine teeth, but in the upper 
jaw are two incisors, or cutting teeth, better known 
by the name of tusks. As they continue to grow 
during the animal's life, their weight is variously 
stated; but the usual weight of those brought to Eng- 
land is from seventy to a hundred pounds each; but 
some have been sent from Pegu and Cochin China 
that weighed an hundred and fifty pounds. Their 
length is from seven to fourteen feet. The substance 
of which they are formed is called ivory, and is men- 
tioned in several passages of the sacred writings, 
though the elephant itself is not noticed. The first 
place in which it occurs is in 1 Kings x. IS, where we 
are told that Solomon " made a great throne of ivory, 
and overlaid it with the best gold." In Psalm xlv. 8, 
mention is made of "ivory palaces." Supposing the 
reference to be to the royal palaces, it would intimate 
that the internal decorations were principally formed 
of ivory. The practice of inlaying the walls of state 
apartments with valuable metals, woods, and other 
substances, was by no means uncommon among the 
eastern and classical nations of antiquity. Ivory is 
thus mentioned by Homer, in his description of the 
palace of Menelaus ; and by the Latin poet Lucan, in 
depicting the banqueting hall of Cleopatra, queen of 
Egypt. Among the Romans also, ivory inlaying was 
common about the time of the Christian era. In 
Ezek. xxvii. 6, the benches of the Tyrian ships are 



6o BCBIPTDSB .NATIKAL HISTORY. 

said to be made of (that is, overlaid, or ornamented 
with) ivory. 

Mankind have in all ages been at great pains in 
taming elephants, and, when once brought under 
control, they are, perhaps, the most gentle and tract- 
able of all animals. They were formerly much used in 
war. When Alexander invaded India, Poms resisted 
his passage of the Hydaspcs with horsemen, and cha- 
riots, and a multitude of trained elephants. About a 
century later, Pyrrhus brought them into Italy, in his 
war with the Romans. The Carthaginians, also, em- 
ploye d them in the Punic wars; as many as one hun- 
dred and forty elephants were drawn up in one line. 
Under the Roman emperors, they were often exhibited 
at their triumphal pro cess ions, and in the public uames. 
In the present day, they are often made use of in India, 
both by the natives and European*, in hunting the 
larger beasts of prey. There is a well authenticated 
anecdote of an English officer, who was mounted on 
an elephant, in a lion hunt. While he was in the act 
of leaning forward to fire at a lion that was already 
wounded, the houdah, or seat, gave way, and he was 
precipitated over the head of the elephant, into the 
very jaws of the furious beast. The lion, though 
severely hurt, immediately seized him, and would, 
doubtless, soon have put a fatal end to the conflict, had 
not the elephant, urged by his mahout, or driver, step- 
ped forward, though greatly alarmed, and grasping in 
her trunk the top of a young tree, bent it down across 
the loins of the lion, and thus forced the tortured ani- 
mal to quit its hold. The officer's life was thus pre- 
served, though his arm was broken in two places, and 
he was severelv clawed on the breast and shoulders. 



THE RHINOCEROS. 

Order.— Pachydermata, or, Thick-skinned Quadrupeds 

Several kinds of rhinoceros are found in India and 
the islands of Java and Sumatra, and also in Africa. 
The one-horned rhinoceros of India is exceeded in size 



THE BRINOCHSOS. 67 

only by the elephant, and in strength and power is 
inferior to no other creature. It is, at least, twelve 
feet in length, six or seven feet in height, and the cir- 
cumference of the body is nearly equal to the length. 
It is particularly distinguished by the remarkable wea- 
pon it carries on its nose, from which it derives its 
name, compounded of the two Greek words, (p**, rin, 
nose, and x^paj, Arras, horn.) This is a very hard 
horn, solid throughout, and has been seen four feet in 
length. In Africa, more than one species has been 
found, with two horns, one behind the other, and not 
half its length* Mr. Brown, in his Travels, however, 
says that the Arabians call the rhinoceros, abu-kuni, 
that is "father of the one horn;" and Bnrckhardt 
states, that there is, in the country above Sennaar, a 
one-horned rhinoceros, to which the negroes give the 
name of the " mother of the one horn." It is possible 
that the animal alluded to by Brown, and that noticed 
by Burckhardt, may be the same. 

Our reason for introducing a notice of the rhinoceros 
into this work is, that many eminent critics have sup- 
posed it to be the animal which, in our English version 
of several passages of Scripture, is called a unicorn. 
But there is nothiffg in the Hebrew word reem, .lob 
xxxix. 9, to imply that the animal was one-horned; it 
is, indeed, mentioned as horned, but the only passage 
which is quite distinct on this point clearly intimates 
that it had two horns. " I lis horns are like the horns of 
unicorns," (reem,) Dent, xxxiii. 17: the word here is 
singular, not plural, and should have been "a unicorn," 
not "unicorns;" but it would have been inconsistent 
to have said " boms of the unicorn," (one-horned,) 
and, therefore, the word was put in the plural. The 
second passage is Psa. xxii. 21, "The horns of the 
unicorns," (rtmim,) which leaves the question unde- 
termined. The third is Psa. xcii. 10, " My horn shah 
thou exalt like the horn of the reem." If horn be 
supplied, as in our version, then there would be nearly 
the same evidence for concluding the reem had one 
horn, as the text first cited affords for its having two : 
but we must consider that it is not unusual in poetry, 



68 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

or even in common discourse, to speak of the horn of 
an animal that has actually two horns, but never of the 
horns of a creature that has but one. It seems, there- 
fore, not improbable that a wild buffalo, or some such 
animal, is intended. This opinion derives some sup- 
port from the reem being mentioned in connexion with 
animals of the ox kind, in Isa. xxxiv. 7: "The uni- 
corns, {remim) shall come down with them, and the 
bullocks with the bulls." The language also employ- 
ed in Job xxxix. 9-12, seems to imply that it was an 
animal similar to those used in husbandry, but wild 
and difficult of domestication. "The Ghawarineh, a 
tribe of Arabs living in tents, have large herds of horned 
cattle, among which are many buffaloes. These buffa- 
loes are, of course, a different species from the vast 
herds bearing that name which roam over the western 
wilds of North America. They are very common in 
Egypt, being kept both for milk and for labour; and 
are found also in Italy, especially in the Pontine marsh- 
es. They are shy, ill-looking, ill-tempered animals. 
They, doubtless, existed anciently in Palestine, though 
probably in a wild state, or unsubdued to labour, as at 
the present day in Abyssinia. The actual existence 
of this animal in Palestine leaves little doubt that it is 
the reem of the Hebrew Scriptures, for which both 
ancient and modern versions have substituted the 
fabulous unicorn."* 



THE WHALE. 

Order.— Cetacea. 

There is an order of animals with the fore-limbs 
formed like paddles, and which live in the water ex- 
clusively. They have no hind limbs, and the tail is 
expanded into a sort of oar. Of these animals the 
whale is an example. Animals of this order ( Cetacea) 
have a double heart, or a heart with two ventricles, 
and warm red blood, like all the mammalia. In the 

* Robinson's Biblical Researches, iii. 305, 306. 



THE WHALE. 69 

structure of their bones, they bear little resemblance to 
fishes. The skeleton of a whale, or a dolphin, might 
be supposed to belong to a quadruped; but the parts 
that in quadrupeds would form the fore-feet, are 
covered with flesh and skin, are changed into fins or 
paddles, without distinct fingers; the hind-feet are 
blended so as to form a tail, placed horizontally, and 
not vertically; a position that enables them, by means 
of a few powerful strokes, to rise or dive with the 
utmost rapidity. Instead of gills they have lungs, and 
can remain only a short time under water, and may 
more properly be said to live upon the water than 
in it. 

The skin is naked, and between it and the muscles 
there is a layer of fat, forming the substance called 
blubber, varying in its depth in different species, and in 
the same at different ages. In the common Greenland 
whale it ordinarily varies from ten to twenty inches; 
and a single individual of moderate size will yield 
forty tons ; but sixty, or even eighty tons are some- 
times produced, the depth of the blubber being in 
proportion. 

The use of the blubber appears to be twofold ; by 
its elasticity it defends the internal organs against the 
pressure of the surrounding water at immense depths, 
but its principal use is to preserve the vital heat of the 
body. Were it not for this casing of blubber (one of 
the slowest conductors of heat) the whale would perish 
from cold in the very low temperature of the Polar 
seas. To this may be added, that by its greater spe- 
cific lightness the blubber makes the vast bulk of these 
animals more buoyant in the water. The thick fur of 
the land animals would be quite useless. Such is the 
admirable adaptation everywhere observable in the 
works of God. 

The spermaceti whale, or cachalot, has a head 
much larger than that of the common whale, being 
nearly half the length of its whole body ; the upper 
jaw is destitute of teeth, and also of the plates called 
whalebone; but the lower jaw is armed with a range 
of teeth which fit into the corresponding cavities of the 



70 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

upper jaw, the gum of which is as hard as gristle. 
The upper part of the skull consists of a number of 
large cells filled with a clear oily fluid, which hardens 
on cooling, and in the solid state is called spermaceti, 
or adipocire ; it is also contained in various other parts 
of the body. Another substance, called ambergris, 
(used chiefly as a perfume,) is found in the intestines 
of this animal; it is solid, opaque, of a bright grey 
colour mixed with yellow stripes; when heated or 
rubbed, it gives out an odour that is agreeable to most 
persons. A cachalot was captured in Whitstable Bay 
during the month of February, 1819 ; the heart mea- 
sured three feet across ; the aorta, or main artery, 
arising from the left ventricle of the heart, was one 
foot three inches in diameter. The total length of the 
animal was sixty-three feet, and the circumference 
thirty-six. The cachalot is said to reach sometimes 
the length of one hundred feet. This species feeds on 
lump-fishes, dog-fishes, cuttle-fishes, and occasionally 
swallows the shark, which the width of its gullet en- 
ables it to do entire. 

The common, or Greenland whale, is entirely 
destitute of teeth ; their place is supplied in the follow- 
ing manner: the upper jaw having the shape of a boat 
reversed, is furnished along its two sides with long 
plates of a horny substance, called whalebone, or 
baleen, eight or nine hundred on each side, with the 
broad end fixed to the gum, and the other end taper- 
ing to the middle of the palate ; these plates have a loose 
fringed edge; they begin small, but increase to ten feet 
in length, and then diminish gradually. The lower 
jaw contains a thick fleshy tongue, and is arched out- 
ward, so as to embrace these fringed plates, and when 
the mouth is shut form a kind of strainer of whalebone 
filaments, which retain the small marine animals which 
are the food of the whale. 

The Greenland whale is now seldom found more 
than seventy feet in length ; its blubber is of consider- 
able thickness, and yields from seventy to one hundred 
barrels of oil. The affection of the whale for its mate, 
and of the parents for their young is very great, and 



THE WHALE. 71 

they have been known to perish rather than desert each 
other when in danger. 

Great danger often attends the destruction of the 
whale ; and many instances are on record in which the 
boat has been shattered to pieces, and the boat's crew 
submerged. The common Greenland whale has been 
known to throw a boat, with its men and apparatus, 
fifteen feet into the air ; but the cachalot is far more 
dangerous, and will rush open-mouthed upon the frail 
boat which is filled with its pursuers, and its attack is 
not to be avoided without difficulty. Too often, in- 
deed, its aim is true, and it scatters death around. 
Every year fatal accidents thus occur in the South 
Seas, where the fishing of the cachalot is carried on. 

It is very doubtful whether the whale is ever ex- 
pressly mentioned in the Scriptures. The Hebrew 
word tannin, in one or two passages, evidently means 
the crocodile; Job vii. 12 ; Ezek. xxxii. 2 ; Isa. li. 9; 
xxvii. 1. In Gen. i. 21, it probably includes all the 
larger aquatic animals and reptiles. Of the fish that 
swallowed Jonah, we are only told in the narrative 
that it was a " great fish," Jonah i. 17 ; and the Greek 
work ketos, used by the evangelist Matthew, xii. 40, 
is not restricted to the whale in Greek authors. In 
Homer it is used for an animal of the seal kind. 



CLASS IL-BIRDS 



We now turn with pleasure from the quadrupeds of 
the earth, and the whales of the ocean, to the birds of 
the air. The first order, in which we meet with the 
birds of prey, is indeed not peculiarly adapted to make 
a pleasing impression on the mind of the observer. It 
is not however difficult to perceive the utility of these, 
as well as the benefits arising from the rest of this class 
of animals. Birds of prey free the countries where 
they dwell from an immense number of noxious crea- 
tures, such as serpents, and, some of them at least, clear 
away the carrion. Singing birds devour an innumer- 
able multitude of caterpillars and insects. Birds, in 
proportion to their size, require much more food than 
mammiferous animals, and thus become much more 
useful. Many species of birds serve mankind for 
food ; and their eggs are both nutritious and pleasant. 
Their plumage serves partly for warmth, and partly 
for ornament. The instincts of most birds are very 
remarkable. Many delight us by the exquisite modu- 
lation of their notes ; nor is our admiration less ex- 
cited by the skill displayed in the construction of their 
nests. The migratory habits of various birds are also 
highly deserving of our notice. Some are only par- 
tially migratory, removing from one district or locality 
to another, as from the borders of the sea into the in- 
terior of the country, or from the mountains to the 
plains, and vice versa. 

Others remove to a distant country, like the stork, 
which is found in Holland in the summer, but makes 
its winter abode in Egypt and Barbary. The swallow 
tribe quit England, and other parts of Europe in the 
autumn, and pass in large troops over to Africa; they 



BIRDS. 73 

arrive in Senegal early in October. " Yea, the stork 
in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the 
turtle, and the 'crane, and the swallow observe the 
time of their coming." Jer. viii. 7. But many kinds, 
which among us are birds of passage, are stationary 
in the milder climate of Palestine, and never leave the 
place of their birth, unless for a very short time. The 
number of species of birds is much greater than that 
of quadrupeds; many of them also are very long-lived. 
The swan is said to attain the age of a hundred years. 
The organs of breathing in birds are admirably con- 
structed for the purpose of enabling them tb fly with 
greater ease. The air passes through their lungs into 
air cells, which either surround or are joined to the 
heart and liver, and other internal parts: there are 
even air-cells in the bones, which are supplied in the 
same way. In the wild swan (cygnusferus) the wind- 
pipe, after passing down the long neck of the bird, is 
curiously coiled up within the breast-bone for the same 
purpose. Naturalists state, that in the tame swan, 
(cygnus oior,) the trachea does not make this convo^ 
lution. There is a closer resemblance than appears at 
first sight between the wings of birds and the fore-legs 
of quadrupeds: the joints are similar, and in both, the 
upper part of the limb consists of a single bone, and 
the lower of two. The brain in birds is larger in pro- 
portion than that of quadrupeds. The eyes are so 
large that there is no brain between them, but only a 
thin plate of the skull. The organ of smell lies at 
the root of the beak. The tongue in most kinds is 
gristly, and not formed for any delicacy of taste. In 
the parrot it is thick and fleshy, and also in the duck 
and goose. They have no outward ear like quadru- 
peds, but an opening covered with feathers. 

Birds of prey are known by their bent beak and 
crooked talons, very powerful weapons, which they 
employ to take other birds, and even weak quadru- 
peds and reptiles: they have all four toes; the nail of 
the hind toe, and that of the internal toe, are the 
strongest. 

They form two families, the diurnal and the noctur- 
8 



74 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

Dal : those that seek their prey by day, and those that 
seek it by night. The diurnal birds of prey have a 
quick and piercing sight; a membrane, called the cere, 
covers the base of the beak, in which are placed the 
nostrils: they have three toes before, and one behind; 
the two outward toes are almost always united at their 
base by a short membrane ; the plumage is close ; the 
feathers are strong, and the flight powerful. 



THE EAGLE. 

Order.— Raptorcs, or Birds of prey. 

The erect, majestic air of this bird when at rest, its 
extraordinary strength, its lofty soaring, and its noble 
appearance in general, have obtained for it the title of 
King of birds. Though not the largest of birds, spe- 
cimens of the golden eagle have been met with mea- 
suring nearly four feet in length, and about nine feet 
across the wings: one specimen measured eleven feet 
three inches from the tip of one wing to that of the 
other, and weighed eighteen pounds. The female, as 
is the case with other birds of prey, is larger than the 
male. Its colour varies with its age: when young, all 
the plumage of the body is of a clear reddish-brown, 
but when old the top of the head and the nape are 
covered with feathers of a lively golden-red. The 
tarsi, or feet bones of the eagle, are closely feathered 
down to the very division of the toes. The beak is 
straight at the base, with a very strong, hooked, and 
sharp point, bluish at the base, but coal-black at the 
tip. In confinement it has been known to live above 
one hundred years, and in a state of freedom it no 
doubt exceeds this age. Its crop, which is a large 
pouch into which the food enters immediately on 
being swallowed, is above twelve times as large as 
the stomach properly so called; so that, after it has 
once been filled, the eagle can go without food for a 
long time, while the contents of its crop are gradually 
received into the stomach. A tame eagle has been 
known to fast for above a month. As it can quench its 



THE EAGLE. 



75 



thirst in the blood of its victims, it can go without 
water for a long time ; though it is an erroneous opin- 
ion that it never drinks. 




LDEN EAGLE. 



When two eagles are once mated, they continue 
together for life, and rear their successive broods on 
the same spot. Their nest is formed with sticks of 
from five to six feet in length, crossed by supple 
branches, and then covered with rushes and weeds. 
They generally hunt together. The male soars aloft, 
or sits on the summit of a rock, ready to pounce upon 
its prey, while the female explores the woods and cop- 
pices, to drive out the animals from their retreats. 
The young ones are plentifully supplied with game by 
their parents, till they are able to fly, when they are 
driven from the nest. Birds of prey, and especially 



76 SCRIPTURE NATIKAL BISTORT. 

eagles, are very sickly during the moulting season, 
which renders their vigour and beauty afterward! 
more striking. We find allusions to this fret in the 
Scriptures: "Thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." 
Psal. ciii. 5. " They that wait upon the Lord shall 
renew their strength ; they shall mount up with wings 
as eagles." Isa. xl. 31. There is a beautiful allusion 
to the parental care of the eagle in the song of Moses, 
Deut. xxxii. 11,12: "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, 
fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, 
taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the Lord 
alone did lead him. and there was no strange god with 
him." These birds do not confine themselves to smaller 
animals, but will attack' full-grown deer, and ever; 
foxes, wolves, and hears; they generally fasten on the 
heads of larger quadrupeds, tear out their eyes, and then 
beat them to death with their wimzs. In Prov. xxx. 
17. it is said, " The eye that mocketh at his father, 
aid despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the 
valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall 
cat it." 

The rapidity of the eagle's flight is frequently allu- 
ded to in Scripture; as in Deut. xxviii. 49, "The Lord 
shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the 
end of the earth; as swift as the eagle flieth. Jere- 
miah, describing the march of Nebuchadnezzar's 
army, says, " His horses are swifter than eagles," iv. 
13; and describing the conquest of Moab by that 
monarch, he exclaims, " Behold, he shall fly as an 
eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab:" xlviii. 
40. And in the Lamentations it is said, " Our perse- 
cutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven:" iv. 
19. Job thus describes the rapid flight of time: "My 
days are passed away, as the eagle that hasteth to the 
prey," ix. 26; and Solomon says of riches, "They 
make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle 
toward heaven." Prov. xxiii. 5. We find several 
striking allusions in Scripture to the eagle's nest, or 
eyrie, built in the clefts of the loftiest rocks : "Though 
thou exalt thyself as the eagle," (says the prophet 
Obadiah, addressing Moab,) "and though thou set thy 



THE OmtAY, OR FISH-HAWK. 77 

nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, 
saith the Lord." verse l. Jeremiah thus foretells the 
doom of Kdom: ft O thou that dwellest in the clefts of 
the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though 
thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I 
will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord:" 
xlix. 16. The king of Egypt is described by Ezekiel 
as "a great eagle with great wings and many fea- 
thers;" while in the same beautiful parable the king 

of Babylon is said to 1 a great eagle with great 

wings, long-winged, full of feathers, which had divers 
colours." Kzek. xvii. 3, 7. The figure of an eagle, it 
is well known, was employed as an ensign by the 
Assyrians, Persians, and Romans. 



THE OSSIFBAGE. 

Order.— Iiaptoreg, or Bird* of prey. 

It is doubtful whether the word thus translated. Lev. 

xi. 13, means a species of vulture, or the great sea- 

tiled ossifrage, or bone-breaker, from the cir- 

cumstance that fragments of bones, of considerable 

size, have been found in its stomach. Though it is 
most frequently found in colder climates, Russia and 
Siberia, it has been met with in Barbary, and on the 
rocky coasts of the Mediterranean. It feeds princi- 
pally on fish, but also preys upon fowls, geese, young 
seals, lambs, and goats. It hunts and fishes both by 
night and day. Its flight is not so lofty or so rapid as 
that of the golden eagle, nor does it pursue its prey 
so far. 



THE OSPRAY, « PI8H-HAWK. 

Order.— Raptorcs, or Birds of prey. 

Its beak and feet are like those of the sea-eagle, but 
its nails are round underneath, while in other birds of 
prey they are bent and channeled. With its sharp 
eyes it perceives the fishes among the waves, and 

S* 



78 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

darts upon them like an arrow. While conveying the 
fish it has captured to its eyrie, it is often pursued by 
the sea-eagle, who obliges it to relinquish its prey, 
which he seizes before it falls again into the water. 
Some think the black easle is intended in Lev. xi. 13. 



THE VULTURE. 

Order. — Raptores, or Birds of prey. 

Birds of this tribe are mostly distinguished from the 
eagle by the bareness of the head and neck. Their 
beaks and talons are much more feeble than in the 
eagle, and they also differ in having their eyes on a 
level with the head, while those of the eagle are deep- 
ly sunk. They stand in a stooping attitude, and in 
walking their wings hang down, and their tail trails 
along the ground, so that the end of the pen-feathers 
is worn away. They fly heavily, and seek their prey 
in flocks. Unlike many other birds of prey, they relish 
carrion; hence in hot countries, such as India and 
Egypt, they are of great service in devouring the 
remains of dead animals and other garbage. They 
do not carry food to their young ones in their talons, 
but fill their own crop, and then, like pigeons, empty 
its contents into the beaks of the nestlings. 

The bird called in the English version " the gier- 
eagle," Lev. xi. 18, is probably a species of vulture 
known in Egypt by the name of Pharaoh's chicken; 
by the Turks it is called akbobas, which means white 
father, and by the Egyptians and Moors rachama, 
which is the same as the Hebrew racham, Lev. xi. IS, 
and rachama, Deut. xiv. 17. It is described by Bruce 
as having a very strong and pointed beak, the end of 
which is black for about three quarters of an inch; 
the remainder is covered with a yellow fleshy mem- 
brane, which also covers the fore part of the head, 
and the under part of the neck; this membrane is very 
wrinkled, and the under part of it is thinly set with a 
few hairs. 



THE KITE. 79 

The thigh of the rachama is covered with very soft 
down, as far as the joint of the leg. Hasselquist says, 
that the inhabitants of Egypt cannot be too thankful 
to Providence for this bird. All the places round 
Cairo, he tells us, were in his time filled with the dead 
bodies of asses and camels; and thousands of these 
birds fly about, and devour these carcasses, which 
would otherwise fill the air with pestilent exhalations. 
The fields of Palestine would remain uncultivated, if 
these vultures did not clear them of prodigious num- 
bers of rats and mice, which breed there. They were 
considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians, and in 
the present day it is considered in Cairo a crime to 
destroy them. They are said even to follow the yearly 
caravan to Mecca, that they may devour the offal of 
the slaughtered beasts, and the bodies of the camels 
that die by the way. 



THE KITE. 

Order.— Raptores, or Birds of prey. 

The word rendered "vulture," in Job xxviii. 7, is 
translated "kite" in Lev. xi. 14, and Deut. xiv. 13. 

The common kite is found in Europe, Asia, and 
Barbary. In France it frequents the marshes, and 
pursues ducks and other aquatic birds. It is said to 
attack hares and rabbits; field-mice, moles, rats, and 
large insects, are its ordinary food, and it also devours 
dead fish which float on the surface of the water. It 
darts rapidly from a great height in the air, and hovers 
so lightly that the motion of its wings is not percepti- 
ble. It is easily scared away from its prey by birds 
much inferior to itself in size. The smallest of the 
hawks, it is said, puts it to flight; and two rooks more 
than match it. It will not dare to take the chickens 
from a very watchful hen; but when it succeeds in 
getting prey, it is so intent on devouring it, that it 
may often be knocked down by a person cautiously 
coming behind it. Though its beak is tolerably power- 
ful, its claws are much weaker than those of other 



SO SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

birds of prey, which may explain its inferiority in 
boldness. 

The kite (says the author of the " British Natu- 
ralist") usually builds in trees; its nest is formed of 
twigs and lined with wool. The female lays generally 
three eggs of dusky white, larger than those of the 
domestic hen, occasionally blotched with rusty brown 
at the thick end. The young are produced early in 
the season; and on the Continent the bird is migra- 
tory, proceeding southward to Greece and Italy, or 
even to Africa, to winter, and returning as far as the 
shores of the Baltic in summer ; but in Britain they 
do not leave the country, but descend towards the 
sea, where they prey on dead fish, aquatic insects, 
sandpipers, and other birds. 

" Glede" is an ancient English name for the kite, 
(derived, Pennant says, from the Saxon glida.) It 
occurs only once in the Bible, Dent. xiv. 13; and is 
generally supposed to mean the same as the word 
translated vulture in Lev. xi. 14, and to be of the 
species we have already described as known by the 
name of " Pharaoh's chicken." 



THE HAWK. 

Order — Raptorcs, or Bird? of prey. 

Various kinds of hawks are spread over every part 
of the world. The largest European species is the 
goshawk. The female is about two feet in length, 
and five in the expansion of its wings; and the male 
about a third less in each dimension. Though many 
hawks remain constantly in Europe, others, as the 
peregrine falcon, migrate in the winter to milder cli- 
mates. The sailors in the Mediterranean call them 
corsairs, as during their passage they prey on various 
kinds of birds. In Job xxxi. 26, the migratory instinct 
of this bird is alluded to: " Doth the hawk fly by thy 
wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?" 
See Lev. xi. 16. 



THE HAWK. 



81 




-0-4 



PEREGRINE FALCON. 



The Greeks consecrated the hawk to Apollo, and 
among the Egyptians no animals were held in such 
high veneration as the hawk and the ibis. 

The common sparrow-hawk has the same colours 
as the goshawk, but its legs are higher, and its size 
about a third less. 



THE OWL. 



Order. — Raptores, or Birds of prey. 



Owls are nocturnal birds of prey. They are distin- 
guished by their thick heads and their large eyes, sur- 
rounded with a circle of feathers. The enormous 
pupils of their eyes admit so much light, that they are 
blind in open day, and see best at dusk or by moon- 
light. Their hearing is quicker than that of most birds. 
Some of them have tufts of feathers over each eye, 
usually called horns. The external toe may be moved 



82" 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



forward or backward at pleasure. They live mostly 
on small birds and mice, which they swallow whole, 
and return the bones, feathers, or hair, in small pellets, 
by the mouth. Their quill-feathers are so light and 




COMMON BAHInT OWL. 



downy that they make scarcely any noise in flying, 
which assists them in taking their prey unawares. 

"The little owl," Lev. xi. 17; Dent. xiv. 16: Psa. 
cii. 6, is supposed to be the common white owl, which 



THE OWL. 83 

is found in every quarter of the globe. It frequents 
barns and outhouses in search of mice and rats. It 
builds its nest in the clefts of old walls, or in hollow 
trees. 

The word rendered "great owl" in Lev. xi. 17; 
Deut. xiv. 16; Isa. xxxiv. 11, most probably means 
the ibis. " The screech owl," in Isa. xxxiv. 14, is 
perhaps the great-eared, or, rather, tufted owl, which 
measures two feet, or more, from the extremity of 
the beak to that of the tail, and is little inferior 
in size to the common eagle. The legs are feath- 
ered to the toes. In Europe, it is most common 
in Germany, Russia, and the Rock of Gibraltar, and 
is sometimes, though rarely, seen in Scotland and 
England. 

A very different word is also translated " great owl" 
in Isa. xxxiv. 15, which occurs nowhere else in the 
Bible. Some have supposed it to mean a kind of ser- 
pent ; but the prophet's language respecting making 
a nest and gathering "under her shadow," are con- 
trary to this construction ; for though serpents are ovi- 
parous, yet they make no nests to receive their eggs, 
which are hatched by the warmth of the sun and soil. 
On the other hand, the actions alluded to are certainly 
those of a bird, though whether it be one of the owl 
kind cannot, be positively determined. 

" The night hawk," Lev. xi. 16, is perhaps the pas- 
serine owl, which is found in Europe, Egypt, and 
Nubia. It is the noctua of the ancients, the emblem 
of Minerva. The word, or rather phrase, translated 
"owl" in Lev. xi. 16, occurs also in Job xxx. 29; 
Jer. 1. 39; Isa. xiii. 21; xxxiv. 13; xliii. 20; Mic. 
i. 8; Deut. xiv. 15. In two of these passages the 
marginal reading is "ostriches," and in three, "daugh- 
ters of the owl ;" but the former is generally approved 
by the most eminent critics. 



Various birds are alluded to in the Scriptures whick 
are not of the rapacious order ; and which, at the same 



84 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

time, are neither aquatic in their habits, as the duck, 
nor waders, as the stork, nor yet of the gallinaceous 
order, as the fowl. Their food consists of insects, 
fruits, and grains. They are more exclusively grani- 
vorous in proportion to the thickness of their bills, and 
insectivorous as that organ is attenuated. They be- 
long to the passerine order, or order incessores. 



THE COMON HOUSE-SPARROW, 

Order— Passeres, 

furnishes an illustration. It is a familiar bird, and 
lives much in the society of man. Sparrows are robust 
and hardy, and can accommodate themselves to the 
greatest extremes of heat or cold in our climate, and 
in more northern countries. In Siberia, however, the 
sparrows and pies are not found farther north than the 
banks of the Pellidoni, a river that falls into the Lena, 
which is the last spot in that quarter where corn is 
grown ; and Commodore Billings states, that when he 
visited that part of the globe, they had been seen there 
only for five years, which was precisely the time dur- 
ing which grain had been cultivated. They make 
their nest of hay and feathers, which they lay some- 
what negligently under tiles, or in the crevices of 
walls; but when they build it in trees, it is formed 
with more compactness and regularity. Some take 
possession of the nests of swallows. They lay five 
eggs, of a whitish-ash colour, with a number of brown 
spots. In Italy there is a distinct species of the spar- 
row, the male of which has its head of a chesnut 
colour: and in Spain, Sicily, Greece, and Egypt, 
another kind is found, with a darker plumage, and the 
black of the throat extending over the whole of the 
chest. 

There is an allusion to the domestic habits of this 
bird in Psa. lxxxiv. 3 : " Yea, the sparrow hath found 
an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, even 



THE COMMON HOUSE-SPARROW. 85 

thine altars, Lord of hosts, my king, and my God." 
The Hebrew word is used not only for a sparrow, but 
for all sorts of clean birds, or those whose use was not 
forbidden by the law. It is/ indeed, translated bird 
or birds, in Gen. vii. 14; xv. 10; Lev. xiv. 5,50, 
52-, Deut. xiv. 11; xxii. 6; Job xli. 5; Psa. xi. 1 
civ. 17; cxxiv. 7; Pro v. vi. 5; vii. 23; xxvi. 2 
xxvii. 8 ; Eccl. ix. 12 ; xii. 4 ; Isa xxxi. 5 ; Ezek 
xxxix. 4 ; Lam. iii. 52 ; Amos iii. 5 ; Hos. xi. 1 1 
foicl, Deut. iv. 17 ; Psa. viii. 8 ; cxlviii. 10; Ezek. xvii 
23 ; xxxix. 17 ; Neh. v. 18 ; and sparrow, Psa. lxxxiv 
3 ; cii. 7. In the New Testament the Saviour alludes 
to this little bird, when encouraging his disciples to 
faith in the care of their heavenly Father : " Are not 
two sparrows sold for a farthing ? and one of them 
shall not fall on the ground without your Father/' 
Matt. x. 29 : also in Luke xii. 6, "Are not five spar- 
rows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is for- 
gotten before God ?" On both occasions he draws the 
encouraging conclusion, " Fear ye not therefore ; ye 
are of more value than many sparrows." Matt. x. 31 ; 
Luke xii. 7. While this beautifully illustrates the 
universal providence of God, and leads us to acknow- 
ledge his hand, even in comparatively minute events, 
let us recollect that though he is the Saviour, the 
Preserver of all men, he is " specially " so " of them 
that believe." Are we, then, in the highest and noblest 
sense, his children ? " Ye are all," said the apostle, 
"the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Gal. 
iii. 26. Without this affectionate trust in the Saviour, 
this practical acknowledgment of his redeeming charac- 
ter, our faith in the providence of God will be devoid 
of its most precious element of consolation ; for with- 
out "faith in Christ Jesus," we are not "obedient chil- 
dren," but disobedient, and turn away from the 
brightest manifestation of our Father's love. 



86 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE SWALLOW. 

Or DER.—Passeres. 




The swallow tribe live entirely on insects ; they are 
all remarkable for the closeness of their plumage, the 
length of their wings, and the rapidity of their flight. 
They live almost entirely on the wing or in the nest ; 
since they catch and eat their prey, and even drink, 
and sometimes feed their young ones, while on the 
wing. 

Four birds of this family visit England, the swift, 
the swallow, the martin, and the sand martin. The 
swift arrives about the middle of April, and retires 
southward early in August. It is seldom observed to 
maintain a low flight, like the swallow or the martin, 
but generally sails at a considerable height. The wings 
are of enormous length, far exceeding the tip of the 
tail when closed. 

The swallow visits England rather earlier than the 
swift or martin. It generally breeds in the inside of 
chimneys in which no fire is kept, but often in barns, 
and various places about buildings ; while the martin 
selects for the same purpose the corners of windows, 
or the eaves of houses. 



THE RAVEN. 87 

The sand-martin, or river-swallow, is the smallest 
of the British swallows. Its favourite haunts are the 
banks of rivers, particularly if composed of a sandy 
soil, in which it can make burrows, using its bill as a 
pickaxe. It often works so deep that its nest can 
scarcely be reached without digging. 

The prophet Jeremiah alludes, in a very striking 
manner, to the migration of the swallow tribe, and 
other birds. Rebuking the Jews for disobedience, he 
says, " Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her ap- 
pointed times; and the turtle, and the crane, and the 
swallow, observe the time of their coming ; but my 
people know not the judgment of the Lord." Jer. viii. 
7. It is, indeed, most melancholy and striking to ob- 
serve the incessant violation of the great moral law of 
the Creator (the law of love) by his rational creatures, 
in contrast with the regular and never-failing opera- 
tions of instinct in the inferior animals! But more 
than this, does not conscience tell us that we are among 
these transgressors, that we ourselves are exposed to 
the cutting rebuke, "The ox knoweth his owner, and 
the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, 
my people doth not consider." Isa. i. 3. And if this 
be the case, can we be satisfied to be unreconciled to 
Him whose law we have violated, but who has sent 
his Son to be the propitiation for our sins? 



THE RAVEN. 

Order.— Passeres. 

The raven is the largest bird of the passerine order 
found in Europe. It is found both in warm and 
cold climates. It lives retired ; flies well and high ; 
smells carrion at a league's distance ; feeds on all sorts 
of fruit and small animals ; builds singly on high trees 
or rocks ; is easily tamed, and may be taught articu- 
late sounds. In the north, its plumage is often mixed 
with white. Its general colour is black ; but the fea- 



88 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

thers above are edged with blue, which imparts to the 
whole that peculiar tint called raven-grey. Its bill is 
long, strong, and a good deal curved, with a ridge on 
the upper mandible, and is capable of inflicting a se- 
vere wound. When it attacks any animal, it generally 
aims in the first place at the eyes. It will often dart 
upon a hare while sitting on her form, pounce upon 
one eye, and repeat the stroke on the other, before the 
animal can escape. In the case of leverets and young 
rabbits, one such stab on the head will be sufficient to 
kill them. It will attack much larger animals, such 
as lambs, and even sheep, if it find them sickly and 
unguarded. 

The thievish habits of the tame raven, and other 
birds allied to it, as the magpie, are well-known ; but 
it is remarkable, Dr. Richardson observes, that, in- 
habiting in a wild state the most secluded and worst 
peopled districts of America, it should exhibit the same 
disposition to carry off shining metallic bodies, and 
other articles totally unfit for food, or for use in the 
construction of its nest. Mr. Kendall, in crossing the 
height of land which divides the waters that flow to- 
wards Hudson's Bay, from those which fall into the 
Arctic Sea, saw a raven flying off with something in 
his claws, pursued by a number of his clamorous com- 
panions. The bird, being fired at, dropped the object 
of contention, which proved to be the lock of a 
chest. 

A curious instance of the proficiency in articulate 
sounds that this bird is capable of, is mentioned by Mr. 
Swainson, who says, that a raven, living in the vicini- 
ty of the guard-house at Chatham, has more than once 
turned out the guard, who thought they were called 
by the sentinel on duty. 

Among heathen nations, even the wisest and most 
highly civilized, the Greeks and Romans, a supersti- 
tious importance was attached to certain birds, which 
were considered fortunate or unfortunate, either by 
their own nature, or from the time and manner of their 
appearance. 

Ravens, were very much noticed ; if they croaked 



THE LAPWING. 89 

on the right hand, it was thought a tolerably good 
omen ; if on the left, a very bad one. The raven of 
Odin was depicted on the standard of the Danes when 
they invaded England, and they believed it possessed 
prophetic powers; that, as a sign of victory, it would 
stand erect and soaring, but if a defeat was impending, 
it would hang its head and droop its wings. The loss 
of this magical banner in their first battle, after land- 
ing in Devonshire, contributed not a little to their final 
overthrow. 

Happy are those who, instead of regulating their 
conduct by such superstitious notions, seek daily to be 
strengthened by God's Spirit, and enlightened by his 
word, remembering that " he that walketh uprightly 
walketh surely." Pro v. x. 9. 



THE LAPWING. 

Order.— Orallatores, or Waders. 

In the list of unclean birds, Lev. xi. 19; Deut. xiv. 
18, is one called the lapwing. This is a bird of the 
sandpiper and snipe kinds, which are common in 
marshy places, where they search in the mud for their 
food, consisting of worms and insects. It is abundant 
in England, particularly in Norfolk and the fens of 
Lincolnshire and Cambridge. It is remarkable for the 
artifices it makes use of to decoy persons or dogs 
away from its nest, flying slowly before them, or run- 
ning along the ground, with its wings hanging down 
as if wounded. 

In summer these birds retire from the sea-coast to 
the moors, but towards the end of the season return 
again to the coast, where they spread themselves over 
the low swampy grounds in quest of food. 

It is generally thought, however, by the best com- 
mentators, that the bird intended in the texts quoted 
above, is not the lapwing, but the hoopoe. This bird, 
which belongs to the passerine order, is found in all 
parts of Africa, India, and China, and visits the south 

9* 



90 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



of Europe every spring, returning in the autumn to 
pass the winter in Africa. 

It is a bird of great beauty, with a handsome crest, 
which it can raise or lower at pleasure. Its general 
colour is of a vinous red; the wings and tail black; 
two white bands across the upper part of the wings, 
(or wing coverts,) and four across the lower part, (or 
the quill feathers.) In Egypt it is stationary, and 
almost domestic. Its food consists of beetles, worms, 




THE HOOFOE. 



snails, etc. ; and moist and marshy places are of course 
its favourite resorts. It grows very fat in autumn, and 
is used for food in the Archipelago, Italy, and some 
parts of France. 

Our barn-door fowl and many game birds, belong to 
the gallinaceous order, which takes its name from gal- 
lus, the common cock. We may first notice the pea- 
cock. 



THE PEACOCK. 91 

THE PEACOCK. 

Order. — Rasores, or Gallinaceous. 




This splendid bird, though originally brought from 
India, is so well known by its domestication in this 
country, that a minute description of it is needless. In 
its native country it is found in great abundance in the 
copses and jungles on the banks of the larger rivers, 
and especially of the Ganges ; not less than twelve or 
fifteen hundred have been seen near one spot within 
an hour. They were probably introduced into Greece 
by Alexander the Great, who had never seen them till 
he marched to India, where he was so struck with their 
beauty, that he decreed a severe punishment on all 
who disturbed or injured them. In the degenerate 
days of Rome, the tongues and brains of peacocks 
formed a favourite dish at the imperial table. 

The pea-fowl in general roosts on the tallest trees; 
but their nest is formed on the ground in a retired spot, 
and consists of a few sticks and twigs, with leaves. 



92 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



In 1 Kings x. 22, and in 2 Chron. ix. 21, peacocks 
are mentioned as having been brought, with other 
oriental productions, to king Solomon by his fleet from 
Tarshish. 

In Job xxxix. 13, the plumage of this bird is refer- 
red to, as a display of the creative power and wisdom 
of God : " Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the pea- 
cocks ?" 

White peacocks are occasionally to be met with, but 
are merely an accidental variety, and not a distinct spe- 
cies. In 1783, a pair of common peacocks, produced 
at Gentillis, near Paris, four young ones, two of which 
possessed the plumage of their parents, and two were 
entirely white. 



THE DOMESTIC FOWL, 



Order— Ra& ores, or Gallinaceous, 



^ ,_ 




is of Indian origin, of which the principal species are 
the Javanese and the wild cock of Sonnerat. We have 



THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 93 

no direct evidence that it was known to the Jews be- 
fore the Babylonish captivity ; but in the New Testa- 
ment there are several allusions to the crowing of the 
cock, besides the reference to the tender care shown 
by the hen to her young ones in our Saviour's pathetic 
lamentation over Jerusalem. 

In Matt. xxvi. 34, our Lord is represented as saying, 
that before the cock crew Peter should deny him 
thrice; so Luke xxii. 34, and John xih. 39. But, 
according to Mark xiv. 30, he says, " Before the cock 
crow twice thou shalt deny me thrice. " These texts 
may be very satisfactorily reconciled by observing, 
that ancient authors, both Greek and Latin, mention 
two cock-cro wings, the one of which was soon after 
midnight, the other about three o'clock in the morning; 
and this latter being most noticed by men as the sig- 
nal of their approaching labours, was called, by way 
of eminence, "the cock-crowing;" and to this alone, 
Matthew, giving the general sense of our Saviour's 
warning to Peter, refers ; but Mark, more accurately 
recording his very words, mentions the two cock-cro w- 
ings. 

It may here be remarked, that before the Babylonish 
captivity the Jews divided the night into only three 
watches. The first is referred to in Lam. ii. 19; 
" Arise, cry out in the night : in the beginning of the 
watches, pour out thine heart like water before the face 
of the Lord." The second is mentioned in Judges vii. 
19 : "So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with 
him, came unto the outside of the camp, in the begin- 
ning of the ?niddle watch :" and the last we find in 
Exod. xiv. 24 : " In the morning watch the Lord 
looked unto the host of the Egyptians," etc. But 
when Judea became subject to the Romans, the divi- 
sion of the night into four watches of three hours each 
was adopted ; these are all mentioned in Mark xiii. 
35 : "Watch ye therefore : for ye know not when the 
master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, 
or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning." 



94 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

THE PARTRIDGE. 

Order. — Rasores, or Gallinaceous. 

This bird is referred to in 1 Sam. xxvi. 20, and Jer. 
xvii. 11. The particular species known in Palestine 
was probably that now called the Greek. It is spread 
through the Turkish empire, the islands of the Archi- 
pelago, Sicily, and Naples. It ordinarily keeps among 
the rocks, but descends into the plain to make its nest, 
in order that the young may find at their birth a ready 
subsistence. It lays from eight to sixteen eggs. Like 
the common hen, it will sit on the eggs of strangers 
for want of its own. Now, as Dr. Shaw remarks, 
if, in the absence of the proper owner, the partridge 
sits on the eggs of a stranger, when that stranger 
returns to the nest, and drives away the intruder be- 
fore she can hatch them, the party so expelled resem- 
bles a man in low circumstances, who had possessed 
himself for a time of the property of another, but is 
forced to relinquish his acquisition before he can ren- 
der it profitable; which is the simile employed by the 
prophet, Jer. xvii. 11. 

The eggs of the Greek partridge are of a reddish- 
yellow colour with slight red spots, and are hatched 
in about three weeks. This species live on grain, 
seeds, insects, the larvae of ants, and during the winter 
on the buds of different evergreens. The flesh is 
white, and much esteemed, though it has a slightly 
resinous taste, and is rather bitter. 

The species of the partridge are numerous, and they 
are found in all climates, from the north pole to the 
torrid zone. They all agree in having rather a slug- 
gish flight, but are uncommonly nimble in running. 
The Arabs make a practice of chasing them, and 
when they have wearied them out, knock them down 
with bludgeons. To this practice David referred when 
he said of Saul, " The king of Israel is come out to 
seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the 
mountains." 1 Sam. xxvi. 20, 



THE QUAIL. 95 

THE QUAIL. 

Order.— Rasores, or Gallinaceous. 

It is one distinguishing mark of the quail, that the 
first quill of the wing is as long as those that follow 
it; in other birds of the partridge tribe it is much 
shorter. 

In Europe the quails are known as far as Lapland, 
but in no part of this quarter of the globe, excepting 
Portugal, do they remain the whole year. In au- 
tumn they assemble in large flocks, and fly mostly by 
moonlight southward, cross the Mediterranean, and 
proceed to Africa, and some of them traverse that con- 
tinent as far as the Cape of Good Hope. In their 
course they visit the islands of the Archipelago, and 
the shores of Italy and Sicily, in myriads. A hundred 
thousand have been destroyed in one day in the king- 
dom of Naples. They are sometimes so fatigued that 
they drop on the decks of vessels, and may be taken 
by the hand. 

On two occasions the Israelites were supplied with 
immense numbers of quails for food: the first time 
was soon after crossing the Red Sea, when, we are 
told, " the quails came up, and covered the camp," 
Exod. xvi. 13; a second time, when the people mur- 
mured at Kibrothhattaavah, and said, Who shall give 
us flesh to eat ? " there went forth a wind from the 
Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them 
fall by the camp." The expression which follows, 
" As it were two cubits high upon the face of the 
earth," Num. xi. 31, is rendered by Dr. Boothroyd, 
(in which he is supported by the Septuagint, Josephus, 
and Jerome,) " At about two cubits above the face of 
the earth;" which indicates that they flew at so mo- 
derate a height above the ground as to be caught 
without difficulty. This appears much more probable 
than that they lay in heaps two cubits high, by which 
vast numbers must have been suffocated, and there- 
fore rendered unfit for food. Hasselquist, speaking 
of the quail, says, " I have met with it in the wilder- 



96 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



ness of Palestine, near the shores of the Dead Sea and 
Jordan, between Jordan and Jericho, and in the deserts 
of Arabia Petraea. If the food of the Israelites in the 
desert was a bird, this is certainly it, being so common 
in the places through which they passed." — Travels, 
p. 203. 

Quails are very pugnacious birds. They were kept 
for the purpose of fighting, like game-cocks, by the 
Greeks and Romans, and the same barbarous custom 
exists in China at the present day. 



THE PIGEON 



DOVE 



Order.— Rasores, or Gallinaceous. 




THE TURTLE DOVE. 



Pigeons, or doves, are found in a wild state, and in- 
habit all the warm and temperate regions of the earth. 
There are upwards of a hundred species, besides 
varieties. 

The first mention of the dove in Scripture is in Gen. 
viii. 8, 10, 11, where Noah sends one from the ark 
to ascertain if the waters of the deluge were assuaged. 
This bird was very early used in sacrifice, Gen. xv. 9. 



THE PIGEON, OR DOVE. 97 

Under the Mosaic law, doves, or young pigeons, were 
the sacrifice of the poor who could not present anything 
more costly, Lev. i. 14; v. 7, 11 ; xh. 6, 8 ; xiv. 22, 
30 ; xv. 14, 29 ; Numb. vi. 10 ; Lnke ii. 24. It was 
to supply doves for these sacrifices that they were of- 
fered for sale in the temple : and we read that our 
Saviour "overthrew the seats of them that sold 
doves." Matt. xxi. 12 ; Mark. xi. 15. 

The collared turtle, or laughing dove, (so called from 
its uttering a sound resembling a laugh,) is probably 
the species referred to in the Scripture, as it is common 
in Syria and the adjacent countries. In the east it is 
usual to build pigeon-houses, or dove-cotes, to attract 
the pigeons, for the sake of their dung, which is used 
as manure in raising melons, and other plants of that 
kind. Tavernier says, "There are above three thou- 
sand pigeon-houses in Ispahan. Every man may 
build a pigeon-house on his own farm, which yet is 
very rarely done : all the other pigeon-houses belong 
to the king, who draws a greater revenue from the 
dung than from the pigeons, which serves, as they 
prepare it, to cultivate their melons." Mr. Morier 
gives a similar account of these pigeon-houses at Ispa- 
han ; and describes them as being " large round tow- 
ers, rather broader at the bottom than the top, and 
crowned by conical spiracles, through which the 
pigeons descend. Their interior resembles a honey- 
comb, pierced with a thousand holes, each of which 
forms a snug retreat for a nest. The extraordinary 
flights of pigeons which I have seen upon one of these 
buildings afford perhaps a good illustration of the pas- 
sage in Isa. lx. 5, < Who are these that fly as a cloud, 
and as the doves to their windows?' Their great 
numbers, and the compactness of their mass, literally 
looked like a cloud at a distance, and obscured the sun 
in their passage." — See Morier's Second Journey , p. 
140.* 

* See " Evenings' Entertainments," published by the Board of 
Publication, for an account of the Wild Pigeons of the United States. 



10 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE OSTRICH. 

Order.— Rasores, or Gallinaceous. 

The ostrich is found in the sandy deserts of Asia and 
Africa. It is a gigantic bird, being from six to eight 
feet in height, and weighs as much as eighty pounds. 
Its muscular thighs, thicker than a man's, are destitute 
of feathers. It has only two toes to each foot ; the 
interior toes are long, and have a strong claw at the 
end ; the exterior toes are shorter and without a claw. 
The sole of the foot is broad, and adapted to walking 
on the sand of the desert. The length of its neck and 
legs, and some of its habits, have caused it to be com- 
pared to the camel, and by the Arabians and Greeks 
it was called the camel-bird. A remarkable feature 
in the camel is, a naked swelling on the chest, upon 
which when reposing the animal throws a great por- 
tion of the weight of its body. The ostrich has a 
similar protuberance. The wings are each armed 
with two short plumeless shafts, resembling the quills 
of a porcupine, and, in place of true quill-feathers, are 
supplied with plumes of a pure and beautiful white. 
Similar plumes also terminate the tail. Several fe- 
males have been known to lay their eggs in the same 
nest, and to sit upon them alternately. The eggs are 
of a dirty white colour, marbled with yellow ; they 
weigh nearly three pounds. The ostriches make no 
nest, properly speaking, but merely hollow out a place 
in the sand. Under the torrid zone, the heat of the sun 
renders incubation unnecessary during the day. " On 
the least noise/' says Dr. Shaw, " or trivial occasion, 
she forsakes her eggs or her young ones, to which per- 
haps she never returns, or if she does, it may be too 
late." Agreeably to this account, the Arabs meet 
sometimes with whole nests of these eggs undisturbed; 
some of them are sweet and good, others are addled 
and corrupted ; others, again, have their young ones 



THE CRANE. 99 

of different growth, according to the time it may be 
presumed they have been forsaken of the dam. The 
Arabs often meet with a few of the little ones no big- 
ger than pullets, straggling and moaning about like so 
many distressed orphans. In this manner the ostrich 
may be said to be hardened against her young ones 
as though they were not hers ; her labour in hatching 
and attending to them being vain, without fear, or the 
least concern of what becomes of them afterwards. 
This want of affection is also recorded in Lam. iv. 3 : 
" The daughter of my people is become cruel, like the 
ostriches in the wilderness." The ostrich is unable to 
fly, but runs with surprising swiftness. The fleetest 
horse could not overtake it, if it did not frequently turn 
in circles, and thus give its pursuers an advantage, 
though the chase often lasts for eight or ten hours. 
" What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorn- 
eth the horse and his rider." Job xxxix. IS. 



THE CRANE. 

Order.— Orallatores, or Waders. 

The migratory habits of this bird, which belongs to 
the wading order, are alluded to in Jer. viii. 7, which 
has already been quoted. " They are met with," La- 
tham observes, " in great flocks, throughout northern 
Europe and Asia. They also breed in Spain; and are 
said to have been formerly bred in England, where 
they were regular visiters, before cultivation had de- 
prived them of congenial situations, by the inclosing 
waste tracts of land, and the draining of wide swamps 
and marshes. In confirmation of this, we hear of 
statutes imposing a fine on those who take away the 
egg of a crane or a bustard. No less than two hun- 
dred and four were served at the feast of Archbishop 
Nevil, in the reign of Edward IV. 

In winter, the crane retires to the warmer regions 



100 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



of the south, Syria, Egypt, Africa, and the adjacent 
countries. Their flight is very elevated, and often 
takes place during the night. The crane has a very 




THE COMMON CRANE. 



loud, clanging note, which can be heard when the 
bird is too high to be seen. To this peculiar sound 
Hezekiah compares his cries of pain and distress du- 
ring his illness. Isa. xxxviii. 14. 



THE HERON. 

Order. — Orallatores, or Waders. 

Under the genus Herons are comprehended the birds 
known by the name of egrets, bitterns, crab-eaters, 
etc. They dwell on the borders of lakes and rivers, 
or in marshes; they feed on fish, aquatic insects, and 



THE BITTERN. 101 

reptiles. Herons are melancholy birds, remaining for 
hours on the edge of the waters. But though they 
seek their food in a solitary manner, they build their 
nests in company; as many as eighty nests have been 
seen on one tree. 

The word anapha, translated heron, in Lev. xi. 19, 
and Deut. xiv. IS, has been variously understood. 
Some have rendered it the kite; others the woodcock 
— the curlew — the crane. Bochart thinks it the moun- 
tain falcon, the same that the Greeks call anopea, 
mentioned by Homer, Odyss. i. 320, and this bears 
a strong resemblance to the Hebrew name. 



THE BITTERN. 

Order.— Gi-allatores, or Waders. 

This bird is somewhat smaller than the heron. Its 
voice resembles the bellowing of a bull, which has 
occasioned its being known in some parts of England 
by the name of " bull of the bog." 

" The bittern is, in many respects," says Mr. Mudie, 
in his work on the feathered tribes of Great Britain, 
"an interesting bird; but it is a bird of the wilds, 
almost a bird of desolation, avoiding alike the neigh- 
bourhood of man, and the progress of man's improve- 
ments. It is a bird of recluse habits ; so that when 
any locality is in the course of being won to useful- 
ness, the bittern is the first to depart; and when any 
one is abandoned, it is the last to return." " The bit- 
tern shall dwell there," is the final curse, and implies 
that the place is to become uninhabited and uninhabit- 
able. It bears not the whistle of the ploughman, or 
the sound of the mattock; and the tinkle of the sheep 
bell, or the lowing of the ox, (although the latter bears 
so much resemblance to its own hollow and dismal 
voice that it has given foundation to the name,) is a 
signal for it to be gone." 

The habits and instincts of the bittern give us a clue 
to the force and propriety of the prophetic denuncia- 
tion against Babylon, in Isa. xiv. 23, "I will also 

10* 



102 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of wa- 
ter: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, 
saith the Lord of hosts." Zephaniah employs similar 
imagery in his prophecy of the overthrow of Nineveh, 
" The Lord will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry 
like a wilderness. Both the cormorant and the bit- 
tern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice 
shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the 
thresholds." Zeph. ii. 13, 14. 

The bittern, when wounded, defends itself with great 
obstinacy, throwing itself on its back and darting its 
sharp beak with great force at its foe. The plumage 
is beautifully varied with spots, bars, and dashes of 
black on a fine reddish-yellow ground. The feathers 
of the head and neck are long, and are capable of be- 
ing thrown forward. 



THE STORK. 

Order. — Grallatores, or Waders. 

The stork is mentioned in the following passages of 
Scripture: Lev. xi. 19; Deut. xiv. 18; Job xxxix. 13; 
Psal. civ. 17; Jer. viii. 7; Zech. v. 9. 

The white stork is the species best known; it arrives 
in Holland about the beginning of April, where it is 
received as a public benefactor, as it frees the country 
from lizards, frogs, and other reptiles. The north of 
Africa, and especially Egypt, is the wintering-place of 
this bird. In spring it spreads itself over not only 
Holland, but France, Sweden, Germany, and Poland. 
In England it has been rarely seen. One was shot at 
Sandwich in Kent, in 1805, and another in Hampshire 
in 1808. The bill is long, sharp, furrowed from the 
nostrils to the point, and of a red colour ; the legs also 
are long and red; the feathers are mostly white, except 
the ends of the long wing feathers, which are black ; 
its length is about three feet three inches. The stork 
is remarkable for its affection towards its offspring. 
The two parents guard and feed each brood, one al- 



THE STORK. 103 

ways remaining with it while the other goes for food ; 
they keep the young ones in the nest much longer 
than any other bird ; to accustom them to fly and to 
venture themselves in the air, the mother exercises 
them in little circular flights around the nest, leading 
them about, and bringing them back to their habita- 
tion. They nest of the stork is formed of twigs and 




THE WHITE STORK. 



sticks, and the eggs are seldom more than four in num- 
ber, and often only two ; a little less bulky, but more 
elongated, than those of a goose. In Lorraine, Alsace, 
and Holland, they nestle on the tops of the houses, and 
the inhabitants provide boxes for their accommoda- 
tion. In Barbary, Dr. Shaw informs us, they place 
their nest on the highest part of old ruins, in the ca- 
nals of ancient aqueducts, and frequently upon the 
very tops of the mosques and dwelling-houses. The 
firs, and other trees when these are wanting, are a 



104 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

dwelling for the stork. In ancient Egypt this bird 
was treated with the greatest reverence, and this is 
still the case in many parts of Africa and the East. 
Among the Romans, the appearance of a stork in their 
auguries signified union and concord. Its departure 
in any calamity was deemed a most fatal presage. 
Attila, we are told, continued the siege of Aquileia, 
which he was about to raise, because he had seen 
some storks flying from the city, and bringing their 
young along with them. 

The black stork is in many points of its disposition, 
as different from the white as in its colour. It is fond 
of solitude, fixes its nest in the depth of woods, on 
old trees, particularly fir trees. It is common in the 
Alps of Switzerland, but very rarely seen in Holland. 
There is but one appearance of this bird recorded in 
England. One was taken alive in 1814, at Stoke St. 
Gregory, in Somersetshire. 



THE IBIS. 

Order.— Grallatores, or Waders. 

Though the name of this bird is not found in the Eng- 
lish authorized version, many eminent critics have 
supposed that it is intended by the word translated 
"great owl" in Lev. xi. 17. Two species of this 
bird are natives of Egypt, one black and white, the 
other entirely black. They were venerated by the 
ancient Egyptians, admitted into their temples, and 
embalmed after death. The former is, however, 
generally distinguished as the sacred ibis. It is about 
the size of a common fowl. When young, the neck 
is partially covered with down, or small feathers of a 
blackish tint, which fall off when the plumage is mature, 
leaving the head and neck bare, which, with the beak 
and feet, are of a decided black colour. The general 
plumage is a clear spotless white, with the exception 
of the tips of the quill feathers, which are glossy 
black, with a violet reflection, as are also the last 
four secondaries, which are elongated, so as to form 



THE PELICAN. 105 

a graceful plume hanging down over the wings 
and tail. It is found in Ethiopia, and is there called 
Abou-Hannes, or Father John, and by the Arabians, 
Mou~Menjel, or Father of the Sickle. 

Truly aquatic birds are distinguished by their feet 
and legs formed for swimming, with webs between 
the toes. They have a close, shining plumage, moist- 
ened by an oily secretion, and furnished near the skin 
with a thick down to protect them from the water. 
The first of the order of swimming birds which we 
shall notice is the pelican. 



THE PELICAN, 

Order — Natatores, or Swimmers, 

Is one of the largest of swimming birds. It measures 
nearly six feet from the point of its bill to the end of 
its tail, and from ten to twelve feet in the expanse of 
its wings. The membranous pouch below the under 
mandible, is capable of holding twenty pints of water. 
To feed their young, these birds empty the contents of 
their pouch by pressing it against their breast, which 
has given rise to the vulgar notion that the pelican 
wounds itself, in order to nourish its offspring with its 
own blood. Though so bulky a bird, it is able to fly 
with considerable facility, and to a great height, owing 
in part to the extreme lightness of its skeleton, which 
does not weigh above a pound and a half. All the 
larger bones are hollow, and there is also an immense 
quantity of air contained under the skin. Excepting in 
the northern latitudes, this bird is found in abundance 
in every quarter of the globe, particularly near the 
mouths of large rivers, as those of the Danube, and 
the shores of the Caspian and Red Seas; they are 
very common in Africa, on the borders of the Senegal 
and the Gambia, and are called by the negroes Pok~ 
ko; the Arabians call it Djimmel el bahar, or "the 
river camel," and Sarcari, "the water carrier." It 
perches on trees, but does not nestle there, but builds 



106 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



its nest on the ground. After rilling its pouch with 
fish, it often retires to some lonely spot at a great dis- 
tance. " We have often seen one of the species/*' 
says the Editor of the Pictorial Bible, " sitting on the 







THE WHITE PELICAN. 

ledge of a rock, a foot or two above the surface of the 
water, in pensive silence, during the whole day; the con- 
tinuity of its proceeding being only interrupted at dis- 
tant intervals by the near approach of some unlucky 
fish, upon which it darted with unerring certainty, and 
then resumed its wonted stillness. At other times, we 
have observed them urging their way with rapid flight, 
thirty or forty miles into the country, after a day's 
fishing, to feast in the lonely wilderness upon the con- 



THE CORMORANT. 



107 



tents of their well-stored pouches; and were then re- 
minded of the words, ' I am like a pelican of the wil- 
derness.' " Psal. cii. 6. The pelican is also mentioned 
in Lev. xi. 18; Deut. xiv. 17; Isa. xxxiv. 11; and 
Zeph. ii. 14. In the two last passages " the cormorant" 
is given in the authorized version, but " pelican" is 
the marginal reading, which in these, as in many other 
instances, is to be preferred. Quite a different word 
is translated "cormorant" in Lev. xi. 17; Deut. xiv. 
17. 

The common cormorant is a bird similar in its gene- 
ral habits and appearance to the pelican, though small- 
er. The species of cormorant are widely spread over 




~-_;;-_'nc 



THE COMMON CORMORANT. 

the globe, along the shores of the sea, and the mouths of 
the larger rivers. In many places, especially in China, 
these birds have been employed in fishing, a ring being 
put on the lower part of the neck to prevent them 
from swallowing the fish, which they are trained to 
bring to their master. They are frequent in England, 
France, and Holland. 



103 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE SWAN. 

Order. — JCatatores, or Swimming Birds. 




THE TAME S~77Jl2:. 

The common swan, in its wild state, inhabits the 
great inland seas or lakes, especially towards the eas- 
tern parts of Europe; but it has become domestic in 
most countries. There is considerable ambiguity in 
the meaning of the word translated swan in Lev. xi. 
18, and Deut. xiv. 16. The Septuagint version favours 
the opinion that the purple gallinule is intended. This 
is one of the wading birds, and not web-footed. It is 
found in most parts of the Levant, and is noted for 
the beauty of its plumage, which is indigo, mingled 
with red. Others suppose it to be the flamingo, a sin- 
gular bird, remarkable for the length of its legs and 
neck, and its brilliant colour; in its third year, the 
back is of a purple-red and the wings rose-coloured. 
The Indians make bonnets of the feathers, and the 
Sardinians employ the bones of the legs for flutes, the 
tone of which is said to be very fine. 



CLASS III. -REPTILES AND AMPHIBIA. 



The various classes of animals differ very much in 
the temperature of the blood. Those in which the 
temperature of the blood is only a degree or two above 
the surrounding medium are called cold-blooded, and 
among these are the reptiles and amphibia. In man 
the temperature is ninety-eight degrees; in many 
quadrupeds, such as the sheep, it is higher ; and in 
birds highest of all: in the duck, for instance, it is one 
hundred and seven degrees. 

Reptiles, as lizards, tortoises, snakes, and amphibia, 
as the frog and newt, continue to live and exhibit 
voluntary motion after having lost the brain, and even 
after the loss of the head entirely. Their heart will 
beat for several hours after it is taken out of the body. 
Not possessing warm blood, they have no occasion for 
coverings of fur capable of retaining the heat, and are 
covered with scales or a simple skin. 

Amphibious animals and reptiles produce their young 
from eggs, which they lay in situations where the heat 
of the sun is a substitute for the careful incubation, or 
sitting, practised by birds, though some of them watch 
the eggs to guard them from animals, such as the 
ichneumon and the vulture, that would otherwise de- 
vour them. 



THE CROCODILE. {Leviathan.) 

The word leviathan, like behemoth, is introduced 
from the Hebrew into our Bibles without translation, 
except in one passage, where it would have been bet- 
ter retained, and is, indeed, given in the margin; Job 

11 



110 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

hi. 8. For a long time it was supposed to mean the 
whale, but is now generally admitted to be the croco- 
dile. This animal is the largest of the lizard tribe. It 
abounds in various parts of Asia and Africa. Besides 
the crocodile, properly so called, there are two other 
kinds closely allied to it, namely, the gavials, which 
inhabit the Ganges, and other large rivers of India ; 
and the alligators, or caymans, in America: but neither 
of the three has been discovered in any part of Eu- 
rope or Australia. The crocodile is from twenty to 




HEAD OF A CROCODILE, 

thirty feet in length. The feet are short, so as to bring 
the body near the ground, but are moved by strong 
muscles, and enable the animal to run with great 
swiftness. The upper jaw, which is fixed, (contrary 
to the opinion of the ancients,) has thirty-six, and the 
lower thirty, sharp, but strong and massy teeth. It is 
furnished with a coat of mail, so scaly and hard as to 
resist the force of a musket ball in every part, except 
under the belly. The ancient Egyptians employed 
the eye of the crocodile as a hieroglyphic to denote the 
rising of the sun; not that its eyes are remarkably 
brilliant, but because they become first visible when 
it rises above the water. In one part of Egypt it was 
considered a sacred animal ; it was ornamented about 
the head and feet with gold and precious stones, and 
fed with cakes, roast meat, and mulled wines. Yet 
at Elephantine it was an article of food. Herodotus 
narrates that, in his time, it was taken by means of a 
hook baited with a hog's chine. It is said that the 
common crocodile is no longer seen in the Delta, but 



THE CROCODILE. Ill 

that it is found sometimes in great numbers in the 
Thebaid and the Upper Nile. 

The crocodiles lay, two or three times in the year, 
about twenty eggs at least, and bury them in the 
sand ; those of the Egyptian crocodile are about 
twice as large as the egg of a goose ; but the eggs of 
a cayman are hardly equal to those of a turkey; they 
are good eating, though with a strong smell of musk. 
As soon as the young are born they hasten to the 
water; but great numbers become the prey of tor- 
toises, voracious fish, and even, it is said, of the old 
crocodiles. At first they are small and feeble ; in the 
second year they acquire teeth, and the skull becomes 
thick enough to sustain blows without injury. In 
Africa, the leopards, and the cougars in America, 
make war on the crocodiles, though generally on the 
young ones. But their most dangerous enemy, with- 
out doubt, is the ichneumon. 

The forty-first chapter of Job contains a magnifi- 
cent and poetical description of the crocodile. The 
impenetrability of its skin, the closeness and hardness 
of its scales, its strength and fierceness, and the diffi- 
culty and danger of contending with it, are represent- 
ed in the most vivid colours. " Who can open the 
doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about. 
His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a 
close seal. One is so near to another, that no air can 
come between them. They are joined one to an- 
other, they stick together, that they cannot be sun- 
dered. By his neesings a light doth shine, and his 
eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. He esteem- 
eth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. Darts 
are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking 
of the spear." Job xli. 14-18, 27, 29. 

In the twenty-ninth chapter of Ezekiel, Pharaoh, 
king of Egypt, is addressed as " the great dragon that 
lieth in the midst of his rivers," where, no doubt, 
there is an allusion to the crocodile, though the term 
leviathan is not used, but a word (tannim) which is 
generally applicable to the larger aquatic animals or 
reptiles. It is the same word which is translated 



112 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



whales in Gen. i. 21, where it most probably is used 
in a comprehensive sense; and serpents in Exod. vii. 
12, in reference to the rods of the Egyptian magi- 
cians. 



DRAGONS. 

The term dragon is now applied by naturalists to a 
family of lizards, distinguished from the rest of that 
tribe by having their first six false ribs, instead of sup- 
porting the under part of the body, extended in nearly 
a straight line, and sustaining a production of the skin 
forming wings like a bat's, but independent of the four 
feet. These wings bear up the animal when it leaps 
from branch to branch, but are not made to beat the 
air like a bird's, so as to enable it to fly. They can 
be folded up, or spread, at the will of the animal. 

All the dragons are very harmless animals, of a 
small size, living in the bosom of the African forests, 
and in some of the East India islands, particularly 
Java and Sumatra. They live on insects, and rarely 
descend to the earth, on which they crawl with diffi- 
culty. They lay their eggs in the hollows of trees 
with a southern aspect. But these are not the dragons 
referred to in the Scriptures. 

We find the word "dragons" very often in our 
Bibles, answering to the Hebrew words tan and tan- 
nim, Psal. xliv. 19; Isa. xxxiv. 13; xxxv. 7; xliii. 
20; Jer. ix. 11; x. 22; xlix. 33; li. 37, etc.; which 
are also translated " whales," Ezek. xxxii. 2 ; " sea- 
monsters," Lam. iv. 3. Comparing the various pas- 
sages together, the terms seem applicable to animals 
of considerable size ; of great strength, fierceness, and 
cruelty ; inhabiting lonely and desolate places, both in 
the water and upon land ; having a mournful wailing 
cry, with the habit of snuffing up the air, and suckling 
their young like quadrupeds, Jer. xiv. 6 ; Micah i. 8 ; 
Lam. iv. 3. The last mentioned peculiarities would 
be descriptive of animals of the seal kind, one species 
of which is found in the Mediterranean. But, after 
all, it is very doubtful whether any animal is specifi- 



LIZARDS. H3 



cally intended by this term ; not improbably, it denotes, 
like the English word " monster," any strange wild 
animal, of unusual form and ferocious disposition, 
either living in the water, or infesting lone and deso- 
late places on land. 



LIZARDS. 

We have already described by far the largest animal 
belonging to this tribe ; but there are several species 
much smaller, though bearing some resemblance in 
shape, which abound in warm countries. In the 
eleventh chapter of Leviticus there are several animals 
mentioned, which probably all belong to this class of 
reptiles. The word translated " tortoise" in the Eng- 
lish version, (isab,) most probably means a kind of 
lizard. As the word imports a swelling, it may have 
been applied to the stellio spinipes, which has a swol- 
len body; it is entirely of a beautiful green, with small 
spines upon its thighs and upon the ridge of the tail. 
It is found in the deserts about Egypt. 

The word translated ferret, (anaka,) is also thought 
to mean a lizard, perhaps the gecko, which is found 
in countries bordering on the Mediterranean. It is of 
a reddish grey, spotted with brown. At Cairo, they 
name this animal abou-burs, (father of the leprosy,) 
because they pretend that it communicates this malady 
by poisoning with its feet provisions of all kinds, more 
especially such as are salted. It produces redness and 
inflammation by walking on the skin. Its voice re- 
sembles the croaking of a frog, and the cry, it is said, 
may be expressed by the syllables geck-o. It is neither 
from its bite, nor its saliva, that this animal is hurtful. 
The Swedish naturalist, Hasselquist,"* (who travelled 

* A pupil of Linnaeus, born at Tornvalla, in East Gothland, Janu- 
ary 3d, 1722. He sailed from Stockholm to Smyrna in August 1747, 
thence to Egypt, and afterwards to the Holy Land. His constitution 
sunk under the exertions of his enterprising spirit, and he died at 
Smyrna, on his return homewards, on February 9th, 1752, in the 
thirty-first year of his age. The result of his investigations was 

11* 



114 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

in the Holy Land and the adjacent countries, on pur- 
pose to investigate their natural history,) has remarked, 
that it is through its toes that the poison oozes out. In 
1750, he saw, at Cairo, two women and a girl, who 
were at the point of death, in consequence, as sup- 
posed, of having eaten some cheese new salted, over 
which this reptile had dropped its poison. At another 
time, he saw the hand of a man, who rashly laid hold 
of a gecko, instantly covered with red pustules, in- 
flamed and attended with an itching equal to that pro- 
duced by the slinging of a nettle. We are told that the 
cats pursue the gecko, and feed upon it. It is driven 
from the kitchens in Egypt by keeping there a large 
quantity of garlick. It feeds on insects, and its eggs 
are about the size of a large nut. 

The original of the word translated "lizard" in Lev. 
xi. 30, signifies to adhere, and may, therefore, very 
well apply to the wall-gecko. It is an ugly animal, 
covered with tubercles, and of a grey colour. It con- 
ceals itself in holes of walls and heaps of stones, and 
covers its body with dirt. It is fond of warmth, and 
avoids low and damp places. It is often found under 
the roofs of ruined houses, where it passes the winter, 
though not in a completely torpid state. In the first 
days of spring it comes forth and basks in the sun. It 
feeds on insects, and fastens itself to the walls by means 
of its crooked claws and a sucking apparatus with 
which the under part of its toes is furnished. It is 
sometimes seen to walk, in a backward position, along 
the ceilings of rooms. It has been reported, but erro- 
neously, to be venomous. It utters no sound. An 
animal of the same kind is probably referred to by 
Solomon in Prov. xxx. 28, where the English version 
translates the original by " spider." 

The word translated "chameleon" occurs only once, 

published by Linnaeus, in 1757, under the name of" Iter Palaestinum." 
It is rich in observations on the animals, plants, minerals, and materia 
medica of the countries he visited, and is, to this day, a standard work 
of reference ; it contains sound information, of which use may be 
made so long as science endures. Vide Penny Cyclojpcedia, article 
Hasselquist. 



LIZARDS. 115 



as the name of an animal, in the Bible, and is by some 
supposed to be the lizard called the skink, (lacerta 
scincus.) It is found in Arabia, near the Red Sea, 




THE OFFICINAL SKINK. 

Nubia, and Abyssinia. It is six or eight inches long; 
the tail shorter than the body ; the latter is of a silvery 
yellowish colour, with some blackish bands across. It 
is remarkable for the readiness with which it forces 
its way into the sand when pursued. For a long time 
it was regarded by the Arabian physicians as a sove- 
reign remedy against a variety of maladies, particular- 
ly leprosy and other diseases of the skin. It was hunted 
in the south of Egypt, as Hasselquist states, and sent, 
when dried, to Grand Cairo and Alexandria, whence 
it was carried to Venice and Marseilles, and from 
thence to all the apothecaries' shops of Europe. 

The word translated " snail," Lev. xi. 30, in Chal- 
dee signifies to bow down; it, therefore, may be the 



116 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

lizard called the stellio, which is noted for bowing its 
head, so that the Mohammedans pursue and kill it, 
because they say it mimics them in the mode of re- 
peating their prayers. It is about a foot in length, and 
of an olive colour shaded with black. 

The word translated "mole" comes from a root 
signifying to breathe ; it appears, therefore, to suit the 
chameleon, which has lungs of such a size that, when 
filled, the body is so swollen as to appear transparent. 
It lives on insects, which it seizes by means of its long 
gluey tongue, and bruises between its jaws. It can 
remain for a long period without food; according to 
the experiments of some naturalists, the longest time 
is four months. It has the curious property of chang- 
ing its colour according to the state of its feelings and 
health. Its outer skin is transparent, the under skin 
is yellow, and the blood of a lively violet blue ; so 
that, as a greater or a smaller quantity of blood passes 
from the heart to the surface of the skin, a variety of 
shades of colour is produced. In its natural state, 
when undisturbed, its colour is a fine green, with the 
exception of some parts which have a shade of reddish 
brown or greyish white. When angry, it changes to 
a deep blue green, a yellow green, and a grey, more 
or less blackish. If unwell, its colour becomes yel- 
lowish grey. Its motions are singularly slow, and it 
delights to bask in the sun. Each eye acts indepen- 
dently of the other, so that it can not only turn them 
about in various, but in opposite, directions. 



SERPENTS. 

Without hands or feet, crawling on their belly, near- 
ly dumb, without limbs, apparently defenceless, but of 
great flexibility and quickness, capable of great efforts 
when irritated, armed with sharp teeth, and, in some 
species, with long fangs which are poisonous, serpents 
are a fit emblem of insidious and malicious men, who 
would make up for their unwillingness to benefit the 
world, by their ardour and bitterness in doing mis- 



SERPENTS, 117 

chief. " generation of vipers, how can ye, being 
evil, speak good things ?" Matt. xii. 34. If there be 
an animal in whose form and habits there are the most 
opposite qualities and traits of weakness and strength 
— of malicious cunning and stupid sluggishness — of 
unintelligent apathy and fiery irritability — it is the 
serpent. The kinds of it are, indeed, very numerous, 
and exceedingly varying in size, strength, and form; 
there are great and small, thick and slender; some are 
long and pointed, others short and blunted : yet the 
sight of any serpent, and the contemplation of its 
qualities, are suited to remind us of our fallen condi- 
tion, and to give us an image of the corruption of the 
human heart. Human nature feels a peculiar and in- 
voluntary disgust at the sight of a serpent. The element 
of beauty in the art of drawing lies concealed in ser- 
pentine lines, and yet men are horrified if they see the 
animal, by whose movements those lines are formed, 
winding its course towards them. It is not the dread 
of its bite, for we shrink even from the harmless blind- 
worm, and other kinds which are well known not to 
be poisonous. But what renders these animals objects 
of aversion, is rather an impression made by their 
general appearance, than a fear of their poison, ex- 
cepting among ignorant persons, who fancy that all 
serpents are poisonous. The serpent's skin is adorned 
with beautiful colours and markings, lines, streaks, or 
spots of varied forms, often shining with a metallic 
lustre — What can be more beautiful? and yet who does 
not shrink from it ? The fiery eye, with all its glare, 
is vacant and unmeaning. The sharp teeth, with 
which the wide jaws are crowded, serve only for 
seizing or wounding, but not for chewing the food, 
which is always swallowed whole. Their voice is a 
mere hiss. The forked tongue which they dart, forth 
from their horrid jaws, and vibrate this way and that 
so quickly, gives them an ugly, not less than a terrific 
look, Psal. cxl. 3. Their voracity is very great, and 
the capability of their throat for swallowing is almost 
incredible. " I once caught a snake," says Dr. Barth, 
"in whose inside I saw something moving up and 



H8 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

down. As I was anxious to release the living crea- 
ture it had swallowed from its confinement, I trod on 
the snake's tail, and gave it several smart strokes, 
which forced it to disgorge its prey. It was a full- 
grown frog, as large as a young child's fist, which was 
no sooner set free, than it hopped off; but the snake's 
throat, as soon as it had thrown out the frog, went 
back to its natural size, and was not thicker than a 
little Child's finger." A boa, whose neck, in ordinary 
circumstances, is not thicker than a man's arm, will 
swallow a goat or antelope, having first broken and 
crushed the bones of its victim, which it destroys by 
twining forcibly around its neck and chest. Most ser- 
pents, especially the larger sorts, eat only one meal 
every two or three weeks; when they have eaten to 
the full, they remain for some days in a state of com- 
plete insensibility, and can scarcely stir themselves, 
till the process of digestion is over. A gentleman, 
who acted as physician among the Dutch troops in the 
East Indies for many years, relates the following inci- 
dent : — " One day I went a short excursion with an 
officer through a wood. On account of the heat of 
the sun, we halted whenever we came under a shady 
tree. We were standing and talking together under 
a tree, and, being rather tired, I sat down on what 
seemed a dark-coloured log lying in the grass. But 
how was I startled when this supposed log began to 
stir! it was a huge serpent swollen with food: with 
some difficulty it raised its head, and opened its wide 
jaws upon us. Yet we had no need to run away; it 
only stretched itself for a few minutes, in order to roll 
away from the bed in which it had been disturbed." 

Poisonous serpents have, on each side of the upper 
jaw, at its extremity, one hollow fang, very long, and 
containing a canal for the passage of a poisonous fluid. 
Beneath these poison fangs, there are others in a rudi- 
mentary state, concealed within the gum, which are 
intended to replace them when, as it often happens, 
they are torn out by accident. The glands, or bags, 
which contain the poison, are situated on the sides of 
each branch of the upper jaw, and two muscles cross 



SERPENTS. 119 

them from front to back, one outwards, the other un- 
derneath, in order to raise the hollow teeth. When 
these teeth are raised, the closing of the jaw presses 
their roots against the poison-bags, and this pressure 
causes the poison to flow with great force through the 
canal or tube, which opens aslant at the point of the 
teeth, like the slit of a pen. The poison exerts its 
destructive power only when it mixes with the blood 
by an open wound. Experiments have proved that 
it retains its venom even after the death of the animal 
which secretes it. In temperate or cold climates, it 
loses its strength during winter, and regains it in sum- 
mer. The flesh of serpents, in general, even of the 
poisonous kinds, may be eaten without injury, and, 
according to some, with advantage. The anaconda, 
and other boas, supply the natives of the countries 
they inhabit with wholesome nourishment; and adders 
are used for food in many parts of the south of France. 
But they were forbidden to the Israelites. " Whatso- 
ever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon 
all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creep- 
ing things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not 
eat; for they are an abomination." Lev. xi. 42. 

Snakes are covered with scales; in most species, 
those of the back are small, and arranged like pointed 
tiles; those of the under parts broad, and like plates 
of armour. In the slow-worm, all the scales are small, 
smooth, and tile-like. 

These animals are, many of them at least, very 
ready, on the slightest alarm, to hide themselves; and 
there may be a reference to this cautious quality in the 
precept our Lord gave his apostles, when he first sent 
them out: " I send you forth as sheep among wolves: 
be ye therefore wise as serpents." Matt. x. 16. They 
make their lurking places in the crevices of rocks, 
walls, and holes in the ground. They feed on living 
animals, such as frogs, toads, mice, small birds, insects, 
and worms. It has been stated that serpents never 
drink ; but this is a mistake : they digest slowly, and 
are capable of enduring a long fast. 

With respect to the animals of this class mentioned 



120 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



in Scripture, little can be said with certainty. Besides 
the word used in Gen. iii. 1, {nachash,) which seems 
a general term, including, besides serpents, other large 
animals, such as the crocodile, there are several words 
which probably signify particular kinds. Three of 
these occur only once. Jlkshub, Psal. cxl. 3, " Adders' 
poison is under their lips." Shephiphon, Gen. xlix. 
17, "Jin adder" (arrowsnake, marginal reading,) " in 
the path." Tsepha, Isa. xiv. 29, "a cockatrice." 

Tsiphoni, Isa. xi. 8; lix. 5; Jer. viii. 17, is also 
translated "cockatrice ;" in Prov. xxiii. 32, an "adder," 
but in the margin "cockatrice." 

Epheh occurs in Job xx. 16 ; Isa. xxx. 6, and lix. 5 ; 
and is translated, in all these passages, " viper," though 
in the Septnagint each has a separate meaning, cor- 
responding to the English words serpent, asp, and 
basilisk. 

The word pethen is found in Psal. lviii. 4; Isa. xi. 
8; Psal. xci. 13; Deut. xxxii. 33; Job xx. 14, 16. In 
all these it is translated " asp," excepting Psal. lviii. 4, 
"adder," (but "asp" in the margin.) 

Saraph, "jfiery serpent," occurs in Numb. xxi. 6-8 ; 
Deut. viii. 15; Isa. xiv. 29; xxx. 6. 

The shephiphon, "adder," in Gen. xlix. 17, is gen- 




THE CERASTES. 



erally supposed to be the cerastes, or horned snake, so 
called from a small prominence, or horn, above each 



SERPENTS. 121 

eye. It is nearly two feet long, and of a greyish-red 
colour, which renders it difficult to distinguish it from 
the sand in which it lurks. Its congenial abode is the 
sandy desert, beneath a burning sun ; it is common in 
Egypt, Arabia, and Syria. " It moves with great ra- 
pidity," says Mr. Bruce, " and in all directions, for- 
ward, backward, and sideways. When inclined to 
surprise any person who is too far from it, it creeps 
with its side towards the person and its head turned, 
till, judging the distance, it turns round, springs, and 
fastens on the part next to it." Its bite is very ven- 
omous. 

The pethen, (asp,) is probably the aspic of antiqui- 
ty, and the host an of the Arabians. It is about a foot 
in length, and two inches in circumference ; its colour 
is black and white. It is strongly poisonous ; the body 
of the sufferer swells, and death almost immediately 
ensues. The inhabitants of Cyprus call it kufi, deaf, 
and in Psal. lviii. 4, we find allusion to " the deaf ad- 
der that stoppeth her ear." 

The epheh, (viper,) is probably the same as that now 
called by the Arabs el effah. It is one of the most 
common and venomous of the serpent tribe in northern 
Africa and south-western Asia. It is about two feet 
long ; and as thick as a man's arm, beautifully spotted 
with yellow and brown, and sprinkled over with black- 
ish specks. Their hiss is so loud, as to be heard at a 
considerable distance. They abound in the desert of 
Suse, where their holes are so numerous that it is diffi- 
cult ibr a horse to pass without stumbling. Their poi- 
son is subtile, and occasions death in fifteen minutes. 

It is disputed whether the epithet " fiery" applied 
to the saraph, Numb. xxi. 6 — 8, is on account of its 
brilliant appearance, or the burning sensation occasion- 
ed by its bite. The latter is the most probable. It is 
also called the " fiery flying serpent," which probably 
is intended to describe the swift darting motions of 
this animal. The celebrated traveller, Niebuhr, in- 
forms us, that " there is, at Basra, a sort of serpent 
which is called heie sursuire, heie thiare. They com- 
monly keep upon the date trees; and, as it would be 

12 



122 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



laborious for them to come down from a very high 
tree, in order to ascend another, they twist themselves 
by the tail to a branch of the former, which, making 
a spring by the motion they give it, throws them to 
the branches of the second. Hence it is that the mo- 
dern Arabs call them heie thicwe, 'flying serpents. 5 " 
Serpent-worship, under one form or other, was one 
of the most widely diffused forms of idolatry in the 
ancient world. In Egypt, the cerastes, or horned 
snake, was sacred to Amnion, and was interred after 
death in his temple. The aspic, or haje, was made an 




COBRA DI CAPELLO. 

emblem of Cneph, the protecting divinity of the world. 
They sculptured it on two sides of a globe, on the por- 
tico of all their temples. The hooded snake (cobra di 



SERPENTS. 123 

capello) makes a conspicuous appearance on the sculp- 
tures at Ellora, Salsette, and Elephanta. A large ser- 
pent of the boa tribe is also worshipped in the king- 
dom of Dahomey, and regarded with veneration in 
other parts of Africa. 

In Psal. lviii. 6, we read of the voice of the serpent- 
charmers, a class of persons still found in Africa and 
India. Eusebius mentions that Palestine abounded, 
in his time, with them, and that they usually employ- 
ed a verbal charm. This is still one of the processes 
of the serpent-charmers in India and Egypt. The 
practice is alluded to in Eccles. x. 11, and Jer. viii. 17; 
but it was expressly forbidden by the Mosaic law, 
" There shall not be found among you a charmer." 
Deut. xviii. 11. Hasselqnist gives the following ac- 
count of a female Egyptian serpent-charmer, whom 
he met with at Alexandria : — " She handled the most 
poisonous and dreadful creatures, alive and brisk, 
without their doing or offering to do her the least harm. 
When she put them into the bottle where they were 
to be preserved, she took them with her bare hands, 
and handled them as our ladies do their lace. She 
had no difficulty with any but the vipei^x officinales, 
which .were not fond of their lodging. They found 
means to creep out before the bottle could be corked. 
They crept over the hands and bare arms of the woman 
without occasioning the least fear to her. She had 
taken these serpents in the field with the same ease 
she handled them before us; this we were told by the 
Arab who brought her to us. Doubtless this woman 
had some unknown art which enabled her to handle 
those creatures. It was impossible to get any infor- 
mation from her, for, on this subject, she would not 
open her lips. The art of fascinating serpents is a se- 
cret among the Egyptians. How ancient this art is 
among the Africans, may be concluded from the an- 
cient Marii and Psylli, who were from Africa, and 
daily showed proofs of it at Rome. The art, as prac- 
tised in Egypt, is known only to certain families, who 
transmit it to their offspring. The person who knows 
how to fascinate serpents, never meddles with other 



124 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

poisonous animals, such as scorpions, lizards, etc. 
There are different persons who know how to fasci- 
nate these animals, and they, again, never meddle 
with serpents. Those that fascinate serpents eat them 
both raw and broiled, and even make broth of them; 
but, in particular, they eat such a dish when they go 
out to catch them. I have even been told, that ser- 
pents, fried or boiled, are frequently eaten by the Ara- 
bians, both in Egypt and Arabia, though they know 
not how to fascinate them. I have been told of a 
plant with which they anoint or rub themselves, before 
they touch the serpents; but I have not, hitherto, re- 
ceived the least description of it. It is said that the 
Indians in the West Indies charm serpents with the 
aristolochia anguicida, (snake-root, or birth-wort,) 
and Forskal, in his travels, states that the Egyptians 
use a species of the same plant."* 

The serpent was the instrument chosen by Satan, 
when he tempted our first parents to disobey the com- 
mands of God, and eat the forbidden fruit. They 
yielded to the tempter, and sin, with all its awful con- 
sequences in this life and the next, was introduced into 
our world. Satan himself is frequently called the 
serpent, Isa. xxvii. 1: 2 Cor. xi. 3; Rev. xii. 9, 15; 
xx. 2. The serpent is, in the Bible, the emblem of 
wicked men of every description ; of malice, hatred, 
cruelty, and treachery, Gen. xlix. 17; Psal. lviii. 4; 
cxl. 3; Eccles. x. 11; Matt, xxiii. 33. Sometimes 
the invading enemies whom God threatened to send 
against his rebellious people are called serpents. Jer. 
viii. 17; Amos ix. 3. 

When the Israelites had wandered nearly forty years 
in the desert, they murmured against God and Moses, 
complaining of the want of food and water. To punish 
them, the Lord sent the serpents to which we have 
already referred, by which many of the people were 
destroyed. Moses, after praying on their behalf, was 
directed to make a serpent of brass, and set it on a pole, 
and the Lord gave a promise, that all those who were 

* Hasselquist's Travels, pp. 63-65. 



THE FROG. 125 

bitten and looked upon it should live. Numb. xxi. 4-9; 
Deut. viii. 15. The serpent thus set up was a striking 
emblem, or type, of Christ, and he himself so spoke of 
it; "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
even so must the Son of man be lifted up." John iii. 
14. The brazen image appears to have been preserved 
as a memorial; for we find that, long afterwards, 
when the Jews fell into idolatry, this also became an 
object of worship, in consequence of which it was 
destroyed by Hezekiah. 2 Kings xviii. 4. 

" In this troublesome desert we are all stung by that 
fiery and old serpent. Saviour ! it is to thee we 
must look and be cured ; it is thou that wast to the 
Israelites their paschal lamb, their manna, their rock, 
their serpent. To all purposes dost thou vary thyself 
to thy church, that we may find thee everywhere; 
thou art for our nourishment, refreshment, cure ; as 
hereafter, so even now, all in all. This serpent, which 
was appointed for cure to Israel, at last stings them to 
death by idolatrous abuse. What poison there is in 
idolatry, that makes even antidotes deadly ! As Mo- 
ses, therefore, raised this serpent, so Hezekiah pulled 
it down. God commanded the raising of it; God ap- 
proved the demolishing of it. Superstitious use can 
mar the very institutions of God ; how much more the 
most wise and well-grounded devices of men !" 



THE FROG. 

The common frog, sometimes called the red frog, is 
tolerably abundant throughout Europe. It is pro- 
duced from eggs, which remain in water for some time 
before the young animal comes forth ; it has, at first, 
the form and structure of a fish. It has no feet, and 
its body is terminated by a very long tail, formed like 
a fin ; it is then named a tadpole. 

The muscles of frogs are large in proportion to their 
bulk, and peculiarly elastic, especially those of the 
hind limbs; hence the frog leaps with great alertness, 
and, in the act of swimming, propels itself along by a 

12* 



126 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



succession of powerful strokes. These animals feed 
on aquatic insects, worms, flies, etc., and always 
choose a prey which is alive and in motion. Every 




:he common frog: 



dead or motionless animal is rejected by them. They 
catch their prey by means of their tongue, which is 
constantly covered with a glutinous fluid. They are 
useful in gardens by destroying slugs. They are usu- 
ally found in moist places, in the grass of meadows, 
and on the banks of streamlets, into which they con- 
tinually leap and dive. Frequently, at the close of 
warm rains in the fine season, they spread themselves 
through the country, and are so numerous as to be 
pressed and crowded against each other. This appear- 
ance has given rise to a mistaken belief, that frogs 
have actually been rained down; the truth is, that the 
rain draws them from the retreats in which they lie 
concealed, as is does snails and slugs. They are dis- 
tinguished by a peculiar cry, which is termed croaking. 
It is particularly during rain, and in hot days in the 



THE FROG. 127 

evening and morning, that they croak. The noise 
which they then make is very great. During the feu- 
dal times, in France, when all the castles were sur- 
rounded with water, it was the occupation of the 
slaves, or villains, as they were called, to strike the 
water of those dykes morning and evening, to pre- 
vent the frogs from breaking the repose of their mas- 
ters. A large species, called the bull-frog, inhabits 
North America, and more especially Carolina ; it makes 
a noise something like the bellowing of a bull. It is 
exceedingly partial to young ducks and goslings, which 
it swallows whole. Frogs multiply fast ; each female 
lays annually from six to twelve hundred eggs. But 
to counterbalance this rapid increase, they have nu- 
merous enemies; serpents, pikes, vultures, and storks 
destroy a great number; while, in some countries, as 
in France, they are cooked for food : the species used 
for that purpose is the green frog. They are frequently 
taken, during the heat of summer, with a line baited 
with a small bit of scarlet cloth, which is kept in mo- 
tion, so as to give it the appearance of being alive. 

The frog of Egypt, (the animal made use of in the 
second of the awful plagues inflicted on the Egyptians, 
for disobeying the Divine command " to let Israel go,") 
is the dotted frog, so called from its ash colour being 
dotted with green spots. The feet are marked with 
transverse bands, and the toes are separate to half their 
length. It changes colour when alarmed, and is com- 
paratively rare in Europe. 

Frogs are still very abundant in the Nile, and other 
waters of Egypt. This, and several of the other plagues, 
consisted in giving an unexampled intensity and mag- 
nitude to some of the greatest nuisances of the coun- 
try. The astonishing extent of this miraculous inva- 
sion of frogs is shown, not only by the immense heaps 
of their carcases which corrupted the land, but by the 
fact, that their numbers were so great as to oblige 
them to forego their natural habits, and intrude into 
the bedchambers, aud even the ovens. They could 
do this with greater ease, because the bedrooms were 
simply recesses on the ground floor, and the Egyptian 



128 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

ovens were not, like ours, built near a fire-place, where 
the glowing heat would deter these animals from ap- 
proaching, but a hole was dug in the ground, in which 
they placed an earthen pot, in which, after being heat- 
ed, the cakes were placed inside to be baked. Here, 
as in other instances, the objects of superstition became 
the instruments of punishment. The frog was one of 
the sacred animals of the Egyptians, but whether be- 
cause they esteemed or disliked it, has not been dis- 
tinctly ascertained. By this creature God humbled 
Pharaoh's pride, and chastised his insolence. What a 
mortification it must have been to this haughty mon- 
arch, to see himself obliged to submit by such despi- 
cable means! When Pharaoh, however, saw that 
there was a respite, he hardened himself against God. 
Till the heart is renewed by the grace of God, the im- 
pressions made by the force of affliction do not abide. 



CLASS IV.-FISHES 



As the element in which fishes live is different from 
that of land animals, the Creator has made a corres- 
ponding difference in their structure. The head is not 
elevated on a neck rising at an angle greater or less 
from the body, but forms a straight line with it. Their 
horizontal cylindrical form is admirably adapted for 
moving swiftly through the water, and resembles that 
shape which belongs to what mathematicians call "the 
solid of least resistance," because it is least affected by 
the resistance of a fluid. Instead of arms and legs, 
or wings, they are furnished with fins. In most fish, 
beside the great fin, the tail, we find two pair of fins 
on the side ; those in front are the pectoral, and those 
behind the ventral; one or two single fins on the back, 
and one between the belly and tail. They serve both 
for balancing and for motion. The pectoral, and more 
particularly the ventral fins, serve to raise and depress 
the fish. When the fish desires to have a backward 
or retrograde motion, a stroke forward with the pec- 
toral fin produces it; if the fish desires to turn either 
way, a single blow with the tail the opposite way 
sends it round at once ; if the tail strikes both ways, 
the motion produced by the double lash is progressive, 
and enables the fish to dart forward with surprising 
velocity. A bonito will swim round and round a ship 
which is sailing fourteen miles an hour; a thing almost 
as surprising as a fly circling round a horse's ear for a 
whole stage. Instead of lungs, fish breathe by means 
of branchiae, or gills. These consist of several leaves 
(laminae) on each side of the neck, which are covered 
with innumerable blood-vessels, so constructed as to 
present a considerable surface to the water. Their 



130 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

breathing is carried on by the small quantity of air 
mixed with and held in solution by the water, for if 
the air be expelled by boiling, they cannot live in it; 
and many species are obliged to rise to the surface for 
the purpose of breathing in the atmosphere, particu- 
larly when the quantity in the water is exhausted. 
This is proved in several cases by merely keeping fish 
in such water, below the surface, under a net of gauze, 
which produces suffocation. Having no elastic air to 
act upon, they are destitute, or nearly so, of voice. 
One species, the pagoniee, or drum-fish, have indeed 
the power of making a loud noise resembling the in- 
strument from which they take their name ; but by 
what organs this is effected has not been determined. 
The eyes of fishes are in general large, and their sight 
acute, but limited in its range. In some kinds they 
are placed near one another, and directed upwards; 
in others far apart, and directed somewhat downwards ; 
while in what are commonly called flat-fish, such as 
soles, both the eyes are on the same side, which is up- 
permost when the animal swims, and is alway strong- 
ly coloured, while the side in which the eyes are want- 
ing is invariably whitish. They have no external 
ear, but there is evidence of their possessing the sense 
of hearing. There are also reasons for believing that 
their sense of smell is tolerably acute ; the nerves for 
this purpose are large, and cover a large surface. 
Many kinds of fish have an air-bladder, which, as it 
is contracted or distended, assists the animal in sinking 
or rising. 

The facts ascertained by naturalists respecting the 
fecundity of fishes are truly astonishing, and serve 
strikingly to illustrate the Divine creative command, 
" Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving 
creature that hath life." Gen. i. 20. More than one 
hundred and forty-eight thousand eggs have been 
counted in a single pike ; and sixty-eight thousand six 
hundred and six in a herring. Of the latter fish there are 
few years in which four hundred millions are not taken 
in Norway ; and yet this bears no comparison to the 
numbers taken by the fishermen of England, France, 



FISHES. 131 

the United States, and above all, of Holland. For a 
series of generations the annual destruction of the cod- 
fish by man has been so prodigious that, but for its 
immense resources of reproduction, the species must 
long since have become extinct : every year a vast 
number of vessels are employed in this fishery, and 
bring back more than thirty-two millions of cods, salt- 
ed or dried. Shoals of haddocks appear during the 
winter on the eastern coast of England, three miles 
in breadth, and eighty miles in length, from Flambo- 
rough Head to the mouth of the Tyne below New- 
castle. 

The migratory habits of some fishes are very extra- 
ordinary. The salmon, for instance, is born in fresh 
water; it grows in the sea; during winter it takes 
refuge in the ocean ; it passes the summer in rivers, 
and ascends towards their source. In the more north- 
ern regions they enter the rivers at the moment the 
snow begins to melt on the shores of the ocean. They 
are almost impelled to enter those streams in which 
they have been born. This was proved by an expe- 
riment of Deslandes, who bought a dozen salmon from 
the fishermen of Chanteaulin, placed a ring of brass 
on the tail of each, and set them at liberty. In the 
following year, five, in the second, three, and in the 
third, three more of these fishes were retaken. An 
invisible power traces the route they have to follow, 
brings them back exactly to the places of their birth, 
and all of them re-assemble without tumult, following 
its guidance with implicit obedience. 

On re-ascending the rivers, the salmons are united 
in enormous shoals. They proceed in long bands, 
disposed in two lines, which form the sides of a trian- 
gle, the summit of which is occupied by the largest 
female, who leads the van, while the younger or small- 
er males bring up the rear. When a dam or cascade 
opposes them, they make the most strenuous efforts to 
shoot beyond it. With one of their sides resting on 
some large stones, they bend the end of their tail to 
the mouth, and thus form an arch, which makes a 
powerful spring; this they let go with inconceivable 



132 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

rapidity, strike the water with violence, and spring to 
a height of twelve or fifteen feet, and fall down be- 
yond the obstacle which arrested their progress. If 
any danger appears to threaten them, the rapidity of 
their swimming is such, that the eye can scarcely fol- 
low them. In tranquil lakes they can go eight or 
ten leagues in an hour, and about twenty-four feet in 
a second. 

The Nile, the Jordan, and the Sea of Galilee, con- 
tain a multitude of wholesome and savoury fish of 
various kinds. Robinson says, " The lake of Tiberias 
is full of fish of various kinds ; and Hasselquist was 
the first in modern times to note the remarkable cir- 
cumstance, that some of the same species of fish are 
met with here as in the Nile ; namely, scherus and 
mugil, (chub,) and likewise another, which he calls 
sparus Galildeus, a species of bream." The coasts 
of the Mediterranean Sea also abound with fish. As 
the Jews were not a seafaring people, the Phenicians 
supplied them with fish, in exchange for wheat, ho- 
ney, oil, and balm, Neh. xiii. 16; Ezek. xxvii. 17. 
The prophetic denunciations that Tyre should be " a 
place for the spreading of nets," Ezek. xxvi. 4, show 
the abundance of fish in its vicinity. The imple- 
ments made use of in fishing are frequently mention- 
ed in the Old Testament. Thus in Habakkuk i. 15, 
" They take up all of them with the angle, they catch 
them in their net, and gather them in their drag." 

By the Mosaic law, all marine or aquatic creatures 
with fins and scales were considered clean, Lev. xi. 9, 
10; and apart from the Divine command, the prefer- 
ence is generally given to these kinds as articles of 
food, while many that differ from them in these re- 
spects are objects of aversion and dread. The shark, 
the ray, and the sunfish, are examples offish, or finned 
marine animals, without scales. Numerous marine 
animals are finless. A reference to the distinction 
made by this precept is probably implied in that para- 
ble of our Lord, in which he compares <• the kingdom 
of heaven unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and 
gathered of every kind : which, when it was full, they 



FISHES. 133 

drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good 
into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at 
the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, 
and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall 
cast them into the furnace of fire : there shall be wail- 
ing and gnashing of teeth." Matt. xiii. 47 — 50. A 
thought is suggested by this parable, which we would 
earnestly press on the attention of the reader; namely, 
that though the awful separation is represented as 
taking place in the future world, the difference on 
which that separation depends, exists in the present 
state. The separation will not create the difference, 
but only fix upon it the stamp of eternity. What 
then is our present state ? our present character ? Can 
we leave these questions undecided, till the day of 
separation shall for ever exclude the possibility of 
change ? It has been remarked — " The preaching of 
the gospel is the casting of the net into the sea. This 
net gathers of every kind, as large drag-nets do. There 
is a time coming when this net will be full, and will 
be drawn to shore, when the mystery of God shall be 
finished. Hypocrites and true Christians shall be 
parted: miserable will be the condition of those that 
shall then be cast away. While the net is in the sea, 
the fishermen cannot distinguish what is in it; but 
they draw all that is in it to the shore, for the sake of 
the good that is therein." 



CLASS V.-INSECTS. 



In former times, the name of worms was given to all 
animals with long and soft bodies which bore a resem- 
blance to the common earth-worm. We find it, there- 
fore, employed in the authorized version for worm- 
like creatures of very different kinds. 

1. The grubs, or larvae, of flies, and other winged 
insects that breed in putrefied bodies. Exod. xvi. 20, 
24; Job vii. 5; xvii. 14; xxi. 26; xxiv. 20; xxv. 6; 
Isa. xiv. 11. 

2. Those which eat woollen garments, Isa. li. 8; 
" For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and 
the worm shall eat them like wool." " The ravages 
which grubs commit among the most costly stuffs and 
choicest furs, can scarcely be imagined by those who 
have had no opportunity of observing their effects. 
Moths so abound in the east as to occasion far greater 
damage than we are accustomed to witness ; and as 
the orientals are in the habit of forming extensive 
wardrobes, often containing articles of great price and 
richness, the loss thus produced is the more sensibly 
felt, and accounts for the frequent allusions in Scrip- 
ture to the devastations of the moth." — Pictorial Bi- 
ble. See also Matt. vi. 19, 20; Luke xii. 33. 

3. The kermes insect, whence is made a crimson 
dye. This insect lives on a species of small oak, a 
shrub that rises to the height of two or three feet. 
Since the discovery of the cochineal insect, which is 
found in Mexico, and other parts of the new world, on 
a plant of the cactus kind, the kermes has ceased to be 
considered of so much importance as formerly. The 



INSECTS. 



135 



" scarlet," Exod. xxv. 4, is supposed to be the dye 
obtained from the kermes. 





THE KERMES. 

4. The worm destructive of the vines, referred to 
in Deut. xxviii. 39 — the insect called pyralis vitis. 

5. The larvge of several species of beetles are also 
very destructive to plants, by feeding on their roots. 
Of this kind, probably, was the worm mentioned in 
Jonah iv. 7. The most destructive animal of this class 
known in England, is the larva of the cockchafer, 
commonly called the white worm. The ravages com- 
mitted, both by the larva and the animal in a winged 
state, are almost incredible. In 1574, we are inform- 
ed, that so great a number of cockchafers were driven 
into the river Severn, that they hindered the mills 
from working. In 1751, many crops in Norfolk 
were totally destroyed by them. One farmer gathered 
no less than eighty bushels of these insects. In 1785, 
many provinces of France were so infested by them, 
that the government offered a reward for the best 
method of destroying them. The larvae live three or 
four years in the ground before they assume their per- 
fect form. Their only nutriment is the roots of plants 
and trees. It is more particularly in order to feast 
upon this grub, that the rooks follow the plough. In- 
deed, for nearly three months of the spring, rooks do 
little else than walk about the fields in quest of it. 



136 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE LOCUST. 

The common great brown locust is about three inches 
in length; it has two antennae, or feelers, about an 
inch long, and two pair of wings. The head and 
horns are brown: the mouth and inside of the larger 
legs bluish; the upper side of the body and upper 
wings brown, the former spotted with black, and the 




DCUSI 



latter with dusky spots ; the back is defended by a 
shield of a greenish hue ; the under wings are of a 
light brown hue, tinctured with green, and nearly 
transparent. These creatures are frequently men- 
tioned in the Old Testament. They were employed 
as one of the plagues for punishing the Egyptians, 
and, awful as that visitation was, there have not been 
wanting later instances of their destructive agency 
scarcely less terrible. They often migrate from their 
native country, probably in quest of a greater supply 
of food. These nights are very frequent in Barbary, 
and generally happen at the latter end of March, or 
the beginning of April, after the wind has blown from 
the south for some days. Mr. Barrow informs us 
that, in South Africa, (in 1784 and 1797,) two thou- 
sand square miles were literally covered with them. 
Being carried into the sea by a north-west wind, they 
formed, for fifty miles along the shore, a bank three 
or four feet high, and, when the wind was in the 



THE LOCUST. 137 

opposite point, the horrible odour they exhaled was 
perceptible one hundred and fifty miles off. 

Charles XII., in Bessarabia, imagined himself as- 
sailed by a hurricane, mingled with tremendous hail, 
when a cloud of locusts, suddenly falling and cover- 
ing both men and horses, stopped the progress of his 
army. In 1748, they invaded Europe in myriads, 
and literally darkened the sun. They were four hours 
in passing over Breslau. In August of that year a 
portion of them reached London. In Norfolk, the 
trees were as leafless as in winter. Happily, how- 
ever, we have been comparatively exempted from the 
awful visitations of this pest. 

The armies of these terrible invaders are magnifi- 
cently described in Scripture : 

Hear this, ye old men, 

And give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. 
Hath this been in your days, 
Or even in the days of your fathers? 
Tell ye your children of it, 
And let your children tell their children, 
And their children another generation. 

That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; 
And that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten; 
And that which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten. 

Joel i. 2—4. 

A fire devoureth before them ; 

And behind them a flame burneth. — Joel ii. 3. 

They consume like a general conflagration. "Wher- 
ever they feed," says Ludolphus, "their leaving seems 
as if it were parched with fire." Neither herbage, 
nor shoots, nor leaves, escape them. 

" The appearance of them is as the appearance of 
horses ; and as horsemen, so shall they run." Joel ii. 4. 

This may refer principally to the fierceness and 
rapid motion of horses; but European travellers have 
been struck with a resemblance in figure between the 
locusts while browsing and horses ; and, in Germany, 
one of the names of the locust is grass-horse ; and, in 
Italy, it is still termed cavaletta. The integuments 
about its neck, it has been remarked, have some re- 
semblance to the trappings of a horse. Dr. Robinson, 
in travelling from Cairo to Suez, found an insect, 
either a species of black locust, or much resembling it, 

13* 



138 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

which his Bedouin guide called far as-el-gundy, "sol- 
diers' horses."* 

Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, 
Like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, 
As a strong people set in battle array. — Joel ii. 5. 

How accurately this description applies to the lo- 
custs is attested by several authors. They may be 
heard at six miles' distance ; and, when they are eat- 
ing the fruits of the earth, the sound is like that of a 
flame driven with the wind. 

They shall run like mighty men ; 

They shall climb the wall like men of war; 

And they shall march every one on his ways, 

And they shall not break their ranks: 

Neither shall one thrust another; 

They shall walk every one in his path : 

And when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. 

Joel ii. 7, 8. 

In perfect accordance with the description of the 
prophet, it has been remarked by naturalists, that 
though voracious, and though the plains on which 
they alight may not be sufficient to supply the whole 
of their countless myriads, yet there is an appearance 
of subordination among them. They are not observed 
to scramble for the portion which a more fortunate 
neighbour may have alighted on, but each takes that 
which falls to his lot. 

These insects, terrible scourges as they are to man, 
are not productive of unmixed evil. They clear away 
multitudes of rank and noxious weeds which choke 
the soil, and thus allow the earth to produce delicious 
herbage for the wild cattle and game. They turn up 
the surface of deserts, and loosen the soil, in the in- 
stinctive process of depositing their eggs; and, as the 
rains are destructive to them and their young brood, 
they furnish a manure in places inaccessible to man. 
They also serve as food, not only to birds, but to man. 
Pliny mentions that they were an ordinary delicacy 
among the Parthians; and Diodorus Siculus asserts 
that the Ethiopians subsisted on them. In the present 
day, they are a common article of food in the east, 
not only for the poor, but among all classes. In some 

* Robinson's Biblical Researches, vol. i. p. 59. 



THE LOCUST. 139 

towns, there are shops exclusively for selling them. 
In times of scarcity, at Mecca, they have them dried, 
ground, or pounded, and made into a sort of bread. 
The Bedouins of Egypt roast them on the coals, hav- 
ing removed the wings and feet. In western Asia, it 
is usual to throw them alive into boiling water, mixed 
with a quantity of salt. They are commonly mixed 
with butter, and spread on thin cakes of bread. We 
need not, therefore, think it strange, when the evange- 
list informs us, that John the Baptist ate " locusts and 
wild honey," though some learned men have misem- 
ployed their ingenuity in attempting to prove, that by 
"the locusts" was meant the fruit of the "locust tree." 

In the passage which has already been quoted from 
Joel i. 4, it has been supposed, by some interpreters, 
that the locust is described in its different stages and 
transformations by the four terms translated palmer- 
worm, locust, canker-worm, and caterpillar. The 
females lay their eggs in the autumn, which are hatch- 
ed in the following spring. The larva?, or grubs, crawl 
in the day-time over the fields, and in the evening, or 
on cold days, collect under the hedges; but. when the 
sun arises, they pursue their march of devastation. 
To this fact the prophet Nahum, hi. 17, has been 
thought to allude, when he says, "Thy crowned are 
as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshop- 
pers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but 
when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place 
is not known where they are." Thus Mr. Barrow, 
referring to the South African locust, tells us that, 
" when the larvae, which are still more voracious than 
the parent insect, are on the march, it is impossible to 
make them turn out of the way, which is usually that 
of the wind. At sunset the troop halts, and divides 
into separate groups, each occupying, in bee-like clus- 
ters, the neighbouring eminences for the night." 

After fourteen days, the grubs cast their skins for 
the first time, and again when they are four weeks 
old. In this first form they are called by the Moors, 
devourers, which corresponds to the Hebrew word, 
(gezem,) translated " palmer-worm." They now ob- 



140 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

tain their full size and winged form, but are not yet 
strong enough to mount in the air. This is the " can- 
ker-worm," (yelek,) Joel i. 4; ii. 25; Nahum hi. 15; 
or "caterpillar," mentioned in Psal. cv. 34; Jer. Ii. 27. 
But after the fourth change, they fly aloft in clouds 
that darken the sun. Several writers, among whom 
is Bochart, suppose the four insects mentioned by Joel 
to be so many different species of locust. To this 
opinion the editor of the Pictorial Bible objects, that 
the three words rendered "palmer-worm," "canker- 
worm," and "caterpillar," in our version, were not 
regarded as locusts by the Septuagint translators; and 
he adopts the interpretation of the terms given in that 
ancient version. Accordingly, he explains the " pal- 
mer-worm" to be a species of caterpillar; the "canker- 
worm" a large insect of the cockchafer tribe ; and the 
"caterpillar" as equivalent to our terms blight and 
mildew. The mildew is a species of fungus that vege- 
tates on the half-decayed material of the bark, which 
is greatly promoted by moisture, damp air, or a want 
of free circulation. Blight, or honey-dew, is a secre- 
tion flowing from a pair of horn-like tubes, on the 
back of a minute insect called aphis, or plant-louse. 

A recent traveller, Dr. Robinson, when in the neigh- 
bourhood of Nazareth, came to a spot which had been 
burnt over, and was informed that this had been done 
to destroy the young locusts, which were lying dead 
in great numbers. " We had seen them occasionally," 
he says, " for several days, and had passed some fields 
of cotton which had been greatly injured by them. At 
Jenin, we were told by the governor, who had exten- 
sive fields upon the plain, fearing for his cotton and 
other crops, had mustered the peasants of the neigh- 
bouring villages, and destroyed the locusts by burning 
or otherwise. But, every few miles, as we travelled 
across the plains, the ground, was covered by the young 
swarms. They were green, and yet too young to fly, 
but just at the right age to eat. The environs of Naza- 
reth, for some distance around, were covered with 
them, devouring vineyards, gardens, and every thing 
green. The bird which follows and destroys the lo- 



THE BEETLE. 



141 



custs had not yet reached Nazareth, but was reported 
to be at Haltin. It is called semermer, (a species of 
thrush,) and the Arabs say it does not eat the locusts, 
or, at least, not many, but attacks them with beak and 
talons, killing as many of them as possible."* 



THE BEETLE. 

The word translated " beetle" is found only in Leviti- 
cus xi. 22. Two species of beetle were esteemed 
sacred by the Egyptians, and occur very frequently in 
their sculpture and painting. They belong to the 
subgenus Ateuchus, (Scarabseus, Linnasus.) These 
insects are found chiefly in 
Africa ; they inclose their 
eggs in a ball of dung, 
which they roll into a hole 
prepared for its reception. 
This ball serves both as 
food and lodging for the 
larva which issues from the 
egg. This beetle is often 
to be met with in the Egyp- 
tian hieroglyphics, and was 
symbolical of the world, the 
sun, and a courageous war- 
rior. On account of the 
last-mentioned symbolical 
meaning, the Roman sol- 
diers wore its image on 
their signets. The Egyptians not only represented it 
on their monuments, but separately, making use. of the 
most precious substances for the purpose, such as gold. 
They employed its figure for seals and amulets, which 
they buried with their mummies. The insect itself 
has been found enclosed in some of their coffins. In 
the British Museum there is a remarkable colossal 
figure of the Egyptian beetle in greenish-coloured 




SCARAB^EUS SACER, 



Biblical Researches, iii. 195. 



142 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

granite. Figures of beetles in green-coloured stone 
occur very frequently in the ancient Egyptian tombs, 
either plain or with hieroglyphics cut on their backs. 

THE BEE. 
The bee, which with us is the emblem of industry, is 
in the Bible employed to represent the violence of per- 
secution, or of hostile attacks. " They compassed me 
about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of 
thorns: for in the name of the Lord I will destroy 
them." Psal. cxviii. 12. See also Deut. i. 44. But 
we must recollect that the sting of this insect is much 
more painful and dangerous in warm climates than in 
ours. This wonderful little insect has excited great 
attention among naturalists, some of whom have spent 
years in studying its habits, and have written volumes 
on the subject. 

Every hive contains three classes of bees, — workers, 
males, or drones, and one female called the mother, or 
queen bee. The number of drones in a hive is very 
irregular, varying from six or seven hundred to two 




THE DEOZsE. 

thousand. The number of workers in a well-stocked 
hive is about fifteen or twenty thousand. Their em- 
ployment is to collect honey, pollen, and propolis, to 
buiid the combs, and to attend upon the young. 
Honey is extracted from that part of the flower called 
the nectary, which is very conspicuous in some flow- 
ers, as the nasturtium, crown imperial, columbine, and 
larkspur; but less visible in others, and in some appears 
to be entirely wanting. For the purpose of collecting 
this fluid, the bee is furnished with a trunk or tongue, 



BEES. 143 

which it can double up or lengthen at pleasure. By 
this the honey is conveyed into the mouth, and then 
passes into the first stomach or honey-bag. The pol- 
len, or yellow dust, which loosely adheres to the cen- 
tral part of flowers, is another substance eagerly col- 
lected by the bee. The breast, legs, and many other 
parts of the body, are covered with a fine down or 
hair. The insect enters the cup of a flower, rolls 
itself round, and soon becomes quite covered with 
this vegetable dust. The thighs of the last pair of the 
insect's legs are furnished with two cavities fringed 
with hair; in these the dust, after being kneaded into 
little pellets, is stowed. When a bee loaded with this 
dust reaches the hive, it enters one of the cells head- 
foremost. The pellets are detached from the bee, 
and being moistened and mixed with a small portion 
of honey, are kneaded into what the country-people 
call " bee-bread." An adequate supply of this food 
is indispensable for the health and strength of the bees 
during the winter. Bees may be robbed of their ho- 
ney, and will thrive if treacle be substituted for it. 
But take away the bee-bread, and they pine away 
and die. It is a curious fact, that the bee, whatever 
flower it takes pollen from first, will continue to col- 
lect it only from flowers of the same kind; so that if 
it begins to load from a daisy, it will pass by all 
other flowers, though they may be much more abun- 
dant, and collect from daisies alone. 

The third substance collected by bees is called pro- 
polis. It is a resinous substance, of a reddish colour, 
collected from the bodies of cer- 
tain trees, such as the birch, 
willow, and poplar. It is used 
not only in lining the cells of a 
new comb, but is mixed with 
wax, and used in repairs and 
stopping crevices. 

The queen bee has a bent 
sting ; in the workers the sting 
is straight, and the drones have 
none. It is composed of three very slender threads, 




144 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

which are enclosed in a sort of cap or sheath. The 
two pieces which form the true sting are scaly, and 
furnished with ten or sixteen small points or barbs 
like a fish-hook. If the bee be much agitated, it will 
leave the sting in the wound, at the cost of its own 
life. A solution of salt, or merely salt water, is an 
ancient but simple and efficacious remedy for the 
sting of the bee. An essential precaution, however, 
for lessening the pain and shortening its duration, is, 
in the first instance, to extract the sting. 

In Mungo Park's last visit to Africa, some of his 
people having disturbed a colony of bees, were so fu- 
riously attacked, that both man and beast were put to 
instant flight. " In the evening," he tells us, " when 
the bees became less troublesome, and we could ven- 
ture to collect our cattle, we found that many of them 
were very much stung and swelled about the head. 
Three asses were missing; one died in the evening, 
and one the next morning, and we were forced to leave 
one at Sibikellin — in all six; besides which our guide 
lost his horse, and many of our people were much 
stung about the face and hands." — Travels, ii. 37, 38. 
The most wonderful instinct of bees is that shown 
in the construction of their cells, which are made with 
consummate geometrical exactness, so as to occupy 
the least possible space required for their use, with the 
least possible consumption of material. But on this, 
and many other interesting to- 
pics, we must refer our readers 
to the valuable works devoted 
expressly to the history of the 
bee. 

Cleanliness is one of the most 
the worker. marked qualities of bees; they 

cannot endure the least filth in their abode. It is not 
inconsistent with this characteristic that the carcase 
of the lion slain by Samson was taken possession of 
by a swarm of bees. A short time would suffice in 
such a region to render the carcase fit for their use. 
The fleshy parts would soon be devoured by insects, 




BEES. 145 

birds, and beasts of prey, and the heat of the sun 
would exhale all the moisture. 

Wild honey was so abundant in Palestine, that it is 
frequently described in the Old Testament as "the 
land flowing with milk and honey." Exod. iii. 8; xiii. 
5; Lev. xx. 24; Numb. xiii. 27; xiv. 8; xvi. 13, 14; 
Deut. vi. 3; Josh. v. 6. Allusions and metaphors 
taken from this substance are frequent in the Scrip- 
tures. Thus Solomon, in exhorting to the pursuit of 
wisdom, says, " My son, eat thou honey, because it is 
good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy 
taste." Prov. xxiv. 13. He admonishes against the 
indulgence of appetite by saying, " Hast thou found 
honey? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest 
thou be filled therewith, and vomit it." Prov. xxv. 
16. He reproves the ambitious by saying, " It is not 
good to eat much honey : so for men to search their 
own glory is not glory." Prov. xxv. 27. It is no un- 
usual thing for bees to form their nests in hollow trees, 
and sometimes even in the hides of quadrupeds. Thus 
in 1 Sam. xiv., we read of the honey dropping in the 
wood, and of Jonathan's thrusting his rod into the 
honeycomb. In eastern countries the forests often 
swarm with bees. " The forests," says Mr. Roberts, 
"literally flow with honey; large combs may be seen 
hanging on the trees, as you pass along, full of honey." 
Such wild honey partly formed the food of John the 
Baptist, in the wilderness. In Psal. lxxxi. 16, and 
Deut. xxxii. 13, we read of "honey out of the rock." 

Milk and honey were the chief dainties of the earlier 
ages, and continue to be so with the Bedouin Arabs 
now. So butter and honey are several times men- 
tioned in Scripture, as among the most delicious re- 
freshments. Compare 2 Sam. xvii. 29; Cant. iv. 11; 
Job xx. 17; and Isa. vii. 15. 

Honey was used in some of the idolatrous ceremo- 
nies of the ancient heathens. On this account, proba- 
bly, it was forbidden to be used in any burnt-offering. 
Lev. ii. 11. It was, however, included among the 
first-fruits. 

14 



146 SCRIPTTRE NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE HORNET. 

The hornet is an insect of the wasp kind, but twice 
as large as the common wasp. Its nest is a very 
curious piece of work; with its jaw it cuts off little 
fibres of decayed wood, or of the inner bark of trees; 
these fibres are made, by masticating them, into a 
kind of paste, and then flattened out, till a coarse but 
strong paper-like sheet is formed. With this paper it 
first builds the outer walls of its nest, beginning 
always at the top; and within it constructs several 
platforms of cells, each platform hanging from the 
one above it by a number of rods or upright beams 
of the same material. The platforms are circular, 
and each' contains a large number of cells, which are 
shaped like those of the bee, but never contain honey, 
being intended only to deposit the young in. 

The word translated " hornet" occurs in Exod. xxiii. 
28, and Deut. vii. 20, in which passages Jehovah pro- 
mises to send these formidable insects among the 
Canaanitish nations, to assist the Israelites in their 
extirpation; in Josh. xxiv. 12, the fulfilment of this 
promise is recorded. " I sent the hornet before you, 
which drove them out from before you, even the two 
kings of the Amorites." 

Bruce, the traveller, supposes that, in these pas- 
sages, the same insect is referred to that is mentioned 
in Isa. vii. 18, under the general designation of "the 
fly," and it is the kind known in Abyssinia by the 
name of zimb. He thus describes it : " It is very lit- 
tle larger than a bee, but of thicker proportions, and 
with wings which are broader than those of a bee; 
they are of pure gauze, without colour or spot upon 
them; the head is large; the upper jaw, or lip, is 
sharp, and has at the end of it a strong pointed hair, 
of about a quarter of an inch long; the lower jaw has 
two of these pointed hairs; and this pencil of hairs, 
when joined together, makes a resistance to the finger 
nearly equal to that of a strong hog's bristle. Its legs 
are serrated in the inside, and the whole covered with 



THE HORNET. 147 

brown hair or down. As soon as this plague appears, 
and their buzzing is heard, all the cattle forsake their 
food, and run wildly about the plain till they die, 
worn out with fatigue, fright, and hunger. No reme- 
dy remains, but to leave the black earth, and hasten 
down to the sands of Atbara; and there the}?- remain 
while the rains last, this cruel enemy never daring to 
pursue them further. 

M Though his size be as great as his strength, and 
his body covered with a thick skin, defended with 
strong hair, yet even the camel is not capable of sus- 
taining the violent punctures the fly makes with his 
pointed proboscis. He must lose no time in removing 
to the sands of Atbara; for, when once attacked by 
this fly, his body, head, and legs, break out into large 
bosses, which swell, break, and putrefy, to the certain 
destruction of the creature. Even the elephant and 
rhinoceros are obliged to roll themselves in mud and 
mire, which, when dry, coat them over like armour, 
and enable them to stand their ground against this 
winged assassin; yet I have found some of these 
tubercles upon almost every elephant and rhinoceros 
I have seen, and attribute them to this cause. All the 
inhabitants of the seacoast of Melinda, down to Cape 
Guardafui, to Saba, and the south coast of the Red 
Sea, are obliged to remove to the next sands, (of Be- 
ja,) in the beginning of the rainy season, to prevent 
all their stock of cattle from being destroyed." Mr. 
Bruce goes on to remark : " Of all those that have 
written on these countries, the prophet Isaiah aione 
has given an account of this animal, and the manner 
of its operation, Isa. vii. 18, 19: "And it shall come 
to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the 
fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of 
Egypt. And they shall come, and shall rest all of 
them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the 
rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes;" 
that is, they shall cut off from the cattle their usual 
retreat to the desert, by taking possession of those 
places, and meeting them there, where ordinarily 
they never come, and which, therefore, were the 
refuge of the cattle. 



148 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

" We cannot read the history of the plagues which 
God brought upon Pharaoh by the hands of Moses, 
without stopping a moment to consider a singularity, 
a very principal one, which attended the plague of this 
fly. (Exod. viii. 21.) It was not till this time, and 
by means of this insect, that God said he would sepa- 
rate his people from the Egyptians. It is well known, 
as I have repeatedly said, that the land of Goshen, or 
Geshen, the possession of the Israelites, was a land of 
pasture, which was not tilled or sowed, because it 
was not overflowed by the Nile. But the land over- 
flowed by the Nile was the black earth of the valley 
of Egypt ; and it was here that God confined the flies ; 
for he says it shall be a sign of this separation of the 
people which he had then made, that not one fly 
should be seen in the sand, or pasture-ground, the 
land of Goshen; and this kind of soil has ever since 
been the refuge of all cattle emigrating from the black 
earth to the lower part of Atbara. Isaiah, indeed, 
says that the fly shall be in all the desert places, and 
consequently the sands ; yet this was a particular dis- 
pensation of Providence to a special end ; the desola- 
tion of Egypt was not a repeal of the general law; it 
was an exception, for a particular purpose and a par- 
ticular time." — Bruce's Travels, vol. i. p. 5 ; v. p. 
191. 



THE ANT. 

Goto the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having 
no guide, overseer, or ruler, providethher meat in the summer, and gathereth her 
food in the harvest. — Prov. vi 6 — 8. 

The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer. — 
Prov. xxx. 25. 

These texts do not directly assert that these ants col- 
lect their food for the winter; yet it is not improbable 
that, in warm climates, the ants lay up food against 
the rainy season. The species known to us are in a 
torpid state during the winter, and require no food. 
But in the summer they are very industrious, and the 
skill they show in constructing their habitations is 



THE ANT. 



149 



truly wonderful. Ants are divided, like bees, into 
three classes — males, females, and neuters, or labour- 
ers; the two former are each furnished with four 
wings, of which the latter are wholly destitute. What 
are commonly called ants' eggs, are the young, termed 
nymphs, which, in the spring and fine weather, are 




NEST OF COMMON YELLOW ANT. 

brought out and laid in the sun by the labourers, and 
in the evening are carried back to their cells. 

The strength and perseverance of ants are most re- 
markable. It is related of the celebrated conqueror, 
Timour, that, being once forced to take shelter from 
his enemies in a ruined building, he sat alone many 
hours. Desirous of diverting his mind from his hope- 
less condition, he fixed his observation on an ant, 
which was carrying a grain of corn, or a nymph, larger 
than itself, up a high wall. Numbering the efforts 
that it made to accomplish this object, he found that 
the grain fell sixty-nine times to the ground, but the 
seventieth time it reached the top of the wall. " This 
sight," said Timour, " gave me courage at the mo- 

14* 



150 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



merit, and I have never forgotten the lesson it con- 
veyed. " 

Perhaps it would have been well for mankind if 
Timour had forgotten it, unless he had also been 
taught other lessons, which would have led him from 
his course of selfish ambition, to devote his energies 
to the service of God and the welfare of his fellow 
men. Happily we have examples before us of the 
highest excellence, of perseverance in the best cause. 
Such was that of the apostle Paul, who counted not 
his life dear unto himself if he could finish his course 
with joy, and the ministry which he had received of 
the Lord Jesus. Acts xx. 24. But pre-eminently let 
us contemplate the blessed Saviour, who " for the joy 
that was set before him endured the cross, despising 
the shame/' Heb. xii. 2. 

"The little ants for one poor grain 
Labour, and toil, and strive ; 
Yet we who have a heaven to obtain 
How negligent we live!" 



THE FLY. 

The kinds of flies are very numerous — some with 
two, others with four wings. They abound in warm 
and moist regions, as in Egypt, Palestine, and many 
parts of Africa, and during the rainy seasons are very 
troublesome. 

The name of the insect with which Jehovah hum- 
bled the pride and defeated the obstinacy of Pharaoh, 
Exod. viii. 21, and Psa. lxxviii. 45, has been variously 
rendered; in our version it is translated, "swarms of 
flies," and in the margin, "a mixture of noisome 
beasts." That it was one particular insect, and not a 
mixture of different animals, is pretty clear. Accord- 
ing to the Septuagint, it was the dog-fly, which must 
have been peculiarly hateful to the Egyptians, because 
they held dogs in the highest veneration, and wor- 
shipped Anubis under the form of a dog. " The im- 
posers of names," says Philo, "who were wise men, 
gave this insect an appellation from the qualities of 
two most impudent animals — a 'dog' and a 'fly;' for 



LICE. ] 51 

this species of fly attacks with fearless fury, and will 
not be driven away nor quit its hold, till it is satisfied 
with flesh and blood." The Editor of the Pictorial 
Bible is inclined to believe that it was the sacred bee- 
tle of the Egyptians, which we have already described. 
Baal-zebub (mentioned in 2 Kings i. 2-6, as "an idol 
of the Philistines) means " lord of flies," because he 
was supposed to defend his votaries from the flies 
which infested those regions. Those who live in hot 
climates, where the soil is moist, (which was the case 
of the Ekronites,) are generally infested with flies. 
And it seems not improbable, that a general persua- 
sion of his power of driving away flies, might be the 
reason why the god of Ekron was called Baal-zebub : 
for it was customary with the heathens to call their 
gods by the name of those insects from which they 
were believed to deliver their worshippers. " The 
god of flies," and "the fly-hunter," were titles ascribed 
by the Greeks to Jupiter as well as to Hercules. The 
Septuagint translators have constantly rendered Baal- 
zebub by " Baal the fly," And Josephus says, that 
Ahaziah sent " to the god-fly (for that was his name) 
of Ekron." This name was afterwards used by the 
Jews to signify "the prince of the devils." That this 
deity was supposed to have power over evil spirits, 
and to be capable of expelling them, appears from the 
opinions of the Pharisees, Matt. xii. 24 ; Mark hi. 22 ; 
Luke xi. 15; where they accuse our Lord of combi- 
nation with Baal-zebub. That he was considered the 
patron deity of medicine, is clearly implied in the con- 
duct of Ahaziah, 2 Kings i. 2. This will account for 
the conduct of the Pharisees in attributing the cures 
wrought by our Lord to the power of Baal-zebub. 
" The Scribes said, He hath Baal-zebub." Mark hi. 22. 



LICE. 

The mention of these insects occurs in Exod. viii. 
16-18, and Psal. cv. 31. They formed the third 
plague of the Egyptians. 



152 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

Mr. Bryant, in illustrating the propriety of this 
miracle, has the following remarks: "The Egyptians 
affected great external purity, and were very nice 
both in their persons and clothing ; bathing and 
making ablutions continually. Uncommon care was 
taken not to harbour any vermin. They were par- 
ticularly solicitous on this head; thinking it would be 
a great profanation of the temple which they entered, 
if any animalcule of this sort were concealed in their 
garments." "The priests," says Herodotus, "are 
shaved, both as to their heads and bodies, every third 
day, to prevent any louse or any other detestable 
creature being found upon them, when they are per- 
forming their duty to the gods." The same is men- 
tioned by another author, who adds, that all woollen 
was considered as foul, and as the product of a per- 
ishable animal; but flax, the product of the immortal 
earth, affords a pure and delicate covering, and is not 
liable to harbour lice. We may hence see what an 
abhorrence the Egyptians showed to this sort of ver- 
min, and what care was taken by the priests to guard 
against them. The judgment, therefore, inflicted by 
the hand of Moses, was adapted to their prejudices. 
It was consequently not only most noisome to the 
people in general, but was no small odium to the 
most sacred order in Egypt, that they were overrun 
with these filthy and detestable vermin. 

It should be remarked, however, that the Septua- 
gint renders the original by a word meaning the mos- 
quito-gnats. 

THE GNAT. 

The mention of this insect occurs in Matt, xxiii. 24. 
In eastern countries gnats are very apt to fall into 
wine, if it be not carefully covered; and passing the 
liquor through a strainer, that no gnat or part of one 
might remain, became a proverb for exactness about 
little matters. This may help us to understand that 
passage in Matt, xxiii. 24, where the proverbial ex- 
pression of carefully straining out a little fly from the 



THE GNAT. 153 

liquor to be drunk, and yet swallowing a camel, inti- 
mates, that the Scribes and Pharisees scrupled about 
little things, and yet disregarded those of the greatest 
moment. The sense requires us to read the text, "Ye 
strain out" (not at) " a gnat," and thus it stands in 
Tyndal's version, (1534,) in Cranmer's Bible, (1539,) 
and in the Geneva New Testament, (1557.) 

The ancient Greek interpreters render those words, 
Amos vi. 6, which we translate " that drink wine in 
bowls," by " who drink strained wine, but are not 
grieved for the affliction of Joseph." This contradic- 
tory affectation of external purity, combined with 
want of sympathy for the sufferings of God's chosen 
people, agrees well with the scope of the above. 

It has been remarked of the gnat tribe, that there 
are few insects so greedy of human blood. It infests 
the coldest, not less than the warmest climates. In 
Lapland their numbers are so prodigious as to be 
compared to a shower of snow, when the flakes fall 
thickest, or to the dust of the earth; the natives can- 
not take a mouthful of food, or lie down to sleep in 
their cabins, unless they be fumigated almost to suffo- 
cation. Near the Crimea, the Russian soldiers are 
obliged to sleep in sacks, to defend themselves from 
the mosquitos; and even with this precaution many 
die in consequence of mortification produced by the 
bites of these insects. The late Dr. Edward Clarke 
tell us, that, in spite of gloves, clothes, and handker- 
chiefs, the bodies of himself and his companions were 
rendered one entire wound. In a most sultry night, 
when exhausted by fatigue and pain, he sought shel- 
ter in his carriage; and, though almost suffocated, he 
could not venture to open a window. Swarms, never- 
theless, found their way into his retreat, and filled his 
mouth, nostrils, and ears. In the midst of his tor- 
ment, he lighted a lamp, but it was put out in an in- 
stant by a prodigious number of these insects, whose 
bodies formed a large conical heap over the burner. 
In the island of Java, Dr. Arnold relates that their bite 
is the most venomous he ever felt, occasioning a most 
intolerable itching, which lasts for many days. It is 



154 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

not, therefore, incredible, that Sapor, king of Persia, 
should have been compelled to raise the siege of Ne- 
rebis by a plague of gnats, which, by attacking his 
elephants and beasts of burden, caused the rout of his 
army. 

Herodotus says, that as the wind will not allow the 
gnats to ascend to any considerable elevation, the in- 
habitants of Upper Egypt sleep in turrets; but that in 
Lower Egypt the people protect themselves by their 
fishing-nets, which they spread over their beds at night. 
This has puzzled commentators and translators ; but 
it is a remarkable fact, that mosquitos and other flies 
will not pass through nets, the meshes of which are 
much more than large enough to admit them. This 
is practically known in some parts of Italy, where 
net curtains are used, which freely admit the air, 
while they keep out gnats and flies. — (Pict. Bible, 
Exod. viii.) 



THE FLEA. 

A well known insect, of trifling size, but troublesome 
in its habits, and living upon blood. By folding its 
legs under its body and suddenly expanding them, it 
can spring to two hundred times its own height. It 
belongs to the warm and temperate climates; among 
the Esquimaux and Northern Indians it is not found; 
on the contrary, it swarms in the tents of the Arabs. 

To this little insect David twice compared himself, 
addressing Saul, who was in pursuit of him; signifying 
that he was beneath the notice and hatred of the king 
of Israel. 1 Sam. xxiv. 14; xxvi. 20. 



THE SPIDER. 

Though spiders are generally classed among insects, 
they differ from them in various particulars. They 
have no antennae ; the eyes are in most species eight, 
and when there are only two they are never placed 



THE SriDEK. 155 

laterally on the head ; the legs are usually eight, though 
in some species six, and in others ten; the construc- 
tion of the organs of respiration is also peculiar. The 
body of a spider is in two divisions ; the fore part con- 
tains the head and the chest, covered with a hard 
skin, and having the legs attached to it ; the hind part 
is larger, of an oval shape, pointed, more or less hairy, 
with a softer skin. At the mouth is a pair of sharp 
pincers, with which it seizes flies and other prey. The 
legs are eight in number, hairy and jointed, ending in 
three crooked claws, one of which is so placed as to 
act against the others like a thumb ; these claws ena- 
ble the creature to run along its threads, and also to 
clean itself and its web from dirt and loose threads. 
But the most remarkable part of the spider is the in- 
strument with which it spins its web. This is situated 
near the end of the body, and consists of four, or in 
some of six, little knobs or tubercles, called spinnerets, 
covered with a multitude of tubes so exceedingly fine, 
that, according to Reaumur, a thousand of them occu- 
py a space not much bigger than a pin's point. Hence 
from each spinneret proceeds a compound thread. 
At the distance of about one-tenth of an inch from the 
spinneret, these threads again unite, and form together 
one of the common visible threads composing a web. 
Thus a spider's thread is not a single line, but a rope 
consisting of at least four thousand strands. The Crea- 
tor has given the spider power to close the mouths of 
the spinnerets at pleasure ; and this enables it, when 
descending from a height by its line, to stop at any 
point of its progress downwards. 

Few things (it has been justly remarked) are better 
suited to remove the disgust into which young people 
are betrayed, (too often by those who ought to set 
them a better example,) on the view of some natural 
objects, than this of the spider. They will find that 
the most despised creature may become a subject of 
admiration, and may be selected to exhibit the mar- 
vellous wisdom of the Creator. The very names 
given to these creatures, direct our attention to some 
of the most interesting points in their habits: they 



156 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

have been divided into vagrants, hunters, swimmers, 
and water-spiders, sedentary and mason-spiders; thus 
evincing a variety in their condition, activity, mode of 
life, and vital functions, (for example, in their mode 
of breathing,) as well as in their extremities and in- 
struments. Of these instruments, the most striking 
is the apparatus for spinning and weaving, by which 
they not only fabricate webs to entangle their prey, 
but form celis for their residence and concealment, 
sometimes living in the ground, sometimes under 
water, yet breathing the atmosphere. Correspond- 
ing with this very singular organization are their 
instincts. We are familiar with the watchfulness 
and voracity of some spiders, when their prey is in- 
dicated by the vibration of the cords of their network. 
Others have the eye and disposition of the lynx or 
tiger, and, after couching in concealment, leap on 
their victims. Some conceal themselves under a 
silken hood, or tube, six eyes only projecting. Some 
bore a hole in the earth, and line it as finely as if it 
were done with the trowel and mortar, and then 
hang it with delicate curtains. A very extraordi- 
nary degree of contrivance is exhibited by the trap- 
door spider. The door from which it derives its 
name has a frame and hinge on the mouth of the 
cell, and is so framed that the claw of the spider can 
lay hold of it, and, "whether she enters or goes out," 
says Mr. Kirby, "the door shuts of itself." But the 
water-spider has a retreat still more curious. It is 
under water, with an opening at the lower part for 
her going in and out; and though this cell be under 
water, it contains air, like a diving-bell, so that the 
spider breathes the atmosphere. It first spins some 
loose threads, which it attaches to the leaves of aqua- 
tic plants; it then varnishes them with a glutinous 
secretion, which resembles liquid glass, and is so 
elastic as to admit of considerable distention and con- 
traction; it next lays a coating of this same substance 
over its own body, and underneath this coating intro- 
duces, by a process not clearly understood, a bubble 
of air. Thus clothed, and shining like a ball of quick- 



THE SPIDER. 157 

silver, it darts through the water, and disengaging 
the babble, dexterously introduces it into a web form- 
ed at the bottom. After taking repeated journeys of 
this kind, and each time of its descent filling its cell 
with a fresh bubble of air, at length the lighter fluid 
completely expels the heavier, and the spider takes 
possession of its airy abode, commodious and dry, 
finished in the very midst of the waters. It is about 
the size and shape of half a pigeon's egg. From this 
curious chamber the spider hunts, searching some- 
times the waters, and sometimes the land for its prey, 
which it transports to this under-water mansion, and 
devours at leisure. The male, as well as the female, 
exhibits the same instincts. Early in the spring, the 
former seeks the residence of the latter, and, having 
enlarged it by the introduction of a little more air, 
takes up its abode with its mate. About the middle 
of April the eggs are laid, and, packed up in a silken 
cocoon in a corner of their house, are watched with 
incessant care by the female. 

In modern times, much interest has been excited by 
the elevation of bodies in the air by means of a bal- 
loon. The discovery consisted in finding out a ma- 
nageable substance, which was, bulk for bulk, lighter 
than air; and the application of the discovery was, to 
make a body composed of, or filled with, this sub- 
stance, bear up, along with its own weight, some 
heavier body which was attached to it. This expe- 
dient, so new to us, is no other than what the Author 
of nature has employed in the gossamer spider. We 
frequently see this spider's thread floating in the air, 
and extended from hedge to hedge across a road or 
brook of four or five yards' width. The animal which 
forms the thread, has no wings wherewith to fly from 
one extremity of this line to the other, nor muscles to 
enable it to spring or dart to so great a distance; yet 
its Creator has made for it a path in the atmosphere, 
and, though the insect itself be heavier than air, the 
thread which it spins from its bowels is specifically 
lighter. This is its balloon. By this contrivance it 
mounts into the air to such great heights, that, when 

15 



158 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

Dr. Lister ascended York Minster, he saw the gossa- 
mer spiders floating above him. 




GOSSAMER SPIDER. 

There are no living creatures so susceptible of at- 
mospheric changes as spiders. If the weather is like- 
ly to be rainy, or even windy, the master thread to 
which they attach their web is always short. The 
barometer may point out that the weather will be fine 
to-morrow, but if the spider works with long threads, 
you may depend on its continuance for a fortnight. 

In the book of Job, it is said of the hypocrite that 
his trust shall be as a "spider's web,'' (literally house,) 
Job viii. 14. There is a similar allusion in the prophet 
Isaiah, lix. 5, 6, "They hatch cockatrice eggs, and 
weave the spider's web ; their webs shall not become 
garments, neither shall they cover themselves with 
their works." In Prov. xxx. 28, a very different 
word is also translated spider in our version; but, ac- 
cording to the Septuagint and Vulgate, it means an 
animal of the lizard kind, and such reptiles frequently 
infest houses in the East. 

THE SCORPION. 

This animal is generally classed with the spider family, 
which it resembles in its form and habits. It is from 



THE SCORPION. 159 

two to four inches long in Europe, but, in warmer 
climates, is sometimes found a foot in length. It has 
eight jointed legs, and two large feelers armed with 
pincers. The poison of this animal is in its tail, at the 
end of which is a small, curved, sharp-pointed sting, 
similar to the prickle of a buck-thorn tree; the curve 
being downwards, it turns its tail upwards when it 
strikes a blow. It lurks under stones, among furni- 
ture and goods, and in holes and crevices. It is ex- 
ceedingly irritable, striking immediately at whatever 
happens to disturb it. In warm countries, the wound 
of a scorpion is most painful and dangerous. The part 
becomes highly inflamed and swollen ; the pain and 
swelling extend to other parts of the body ; sickness 
comes on, followed by convulsions and death. In the 
sacred Scriptures, we find the scorpion and the ser- 
pent generally mentioned together. Thus Moses, in 
his farewell address to Israel, Deut. viii. 15, reminds 
them that God led them through the great and terrible 
wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions. 




THE SCOEPION. 

We find them united in the promise of protection made 
by our Lord to his disciples, " I give unto you power 
to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the 
power of the enemy." Luke x. 19. Also, when as- 
suring them of the willingness of God to answer pray- 
er, " If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a 
father, will he give him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, 
will he for a fish give him a serpent ? or if he shall ask 



160 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ?" Luke xi. 11, 
12. In this passage, the scorpion is probably com- 
pared with an egg on account of its oval shape. Some 
species are also of a white colour, and about the size 
of an egg. In 1 Kings xii. 11, 14, and 2 Chron. x. 11, 
14, the word is either used altogether metaphorically, 
or a kind of knotted scourge is meant, which in ancient 
times was called a scorpion. Akrabbim, Numb, xxxiv. 
4; Josh. xv. 3; and Judges i. 36, was so named from 
being infested with scorpions. It was afterwards 
called Acrabatane. 



THE HORSELEECH. 

The horseleech, [hirudo sanguisuga, Linn.; hiemo- 
pis sanguiso?*ba, Savig.) The name of this creature 
occurs only in Proverbs, (xxx. 15,) and, as the ancient 
versions prove, in the sense in which it is ordinarily 
received. Mr. Kitto observes, that the insatiable and 
disgusting thirst for blood which the leech exhibits, 
and of which we avail ourselves for medical purposes, 
is not unknown in the East, "and it is hence spoken 
of with unmingled horror and aversion, particularly as 
it causes the destruction of many valuable animals, 
by fastening under their tongues when they come to 
drink, when it often happens, that, though the leech 
be taken away, the wounded beast continues to bleed 
slowly till it dies." Much, indeed, has been said of the 
blood-thirsty instincts of the horseleech, and not with- 
out foundation ; it will, certainly, fasten upon both 
men and animals, and, being of large size, extract a 
considerable quantity of blood ; but we cannot agree 
with Linnaeus that nine are able to kill a horse, unless 
he alludes to the subsequent flow of blood, which has 
continued unstopped till the animal died. On the other 
hand, the assertion of Messrs. Huzard and Pelletier, 
that it attacks no vertebrate animal, is erroneous, and 
we agree with M. Blainville, in thinking the mistake 
they have made arises from considering the common 
black leech, (pseudobdelta nigra,) of ponds and ditch- 



THE HORSELEECH. 161 

es, as that more formidable species. The common 
black leech has no teeth, and, therefore, cannot pierce 
the skins of vertebrate animals; whereas in the horse- 
leech the teeth are larger than in the medicinal leech, 
and inflict dangerous wounds, from the inflammation 
they produce, which is often succeeded by ulceration. 
Both species prey upon worms. Leeches constitute 
a family of annulose animals, (annelida,) or red-blood- 
ed worms of Cuvier; they have no distinct heart, but 
the circulation is effected by the agency of contractile 
vessels; they have a nervous system, consisting of 
ganglia, or knots, united by nervous threads, and 
giving off nerves to the layers of muscles, etc., and to 
the oval disc, on the under surface of which are seve- 
ral extremely minute eyes, in a semicircular row. Ac- 
cording to Professor Muller, these are of the simplest 
structure, being merely the expansion of the extremi- 
ty of minute nervous fibrils, covered by a delicate 
transparent convex cornea, derived from the epidermis, 
and lined posteriorly with a layer of black pigment, 
to which their appearance as black specks is to be 
attributed. No crystalline lens, nor aqueous or vitre- 
ous humours, for the refraction or condensation of the 
rays of light, have been detected; and their situation 
and simplicity prove that their use is restricted to the 
close and exclusive examination of food, or objects on 
which the animal is about to seize, or to which it is 
about to apply the oval sucker. Of the distinctness 
of vision possessed by such an apparatus no idea can 
be formed ; it is probably at a low ratio. The teeth 
are three in number, so placed as to make three inci- 
sions, at three points forming a triangle. The stomach 
is furnished with sack-like appendages for the recep- 
tion of the blood with which the leech gorges itself, 
whenever an opportunity happens. The respiratory 
organs consist of a series of small membranous sacs, 
down both sides, each opening by a minute orifice for 
the admission of water; on these membranous sacs, 
vessels of extreme fineness abundantly ramify. 

The leech undoubtedly possesses the sense of taste, 
and can, most likely, appreciate the odour of bodies 
15* 



162 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

by the same sense, tasting, as it were, the invisible 
particles emanating from them. The leech can live 
for a long time out of the water, and, in Chili, and 
also in Ceylon, certain species are altogether terres- 
trial, crawling upon plants and trees, and attacking 
the legs of persons travelling through the woods, to 
their great discomfort. The general form and habits 
of the leech are too well known to need a detailed 
description. 



CLASS VI.— MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS, 



OR ANIMALS OF A SOFT COMPOSITION, DESTITUTE OF A TRUE SKELETON. 



THE SNAIL. 

We find the snail mentioned in two places in our 
Bibles. The first is among the unclean animals in 
Lev. xi. 30, where the Hebrew word is thought 
rather to mean some kind of lizard. The other pas- 
sage is in Psa. lviii. 8; where it is said of the wicked, 
"As a snail which melteth, let every one of them 
pass away." The allwise Author of nature not hav- 
ing furnished them with feet and claws to creep and 
climb, has compensated them in a way more commo- 
dious for their state of life, by the broad thin skin 
along each side of the belly, and the undulating mo- 
tion observable there; by the latter they creep; by 
the former, assisted by the glutinous slime emitted 
from their body, they adhere firmly and securely to 
all kinds of surfaces, partly by the tenacity of their 
slime, and partly by the pressure of the atmosphere. 
Thus the snail appears to waste itself by its own mo- 
tion, every undulation leaving something of its own 
moisture behind it; and in the same manner the actions 
of wicked men prove their own destruction. They 
may, like the snail, carry their defence along with 
them, and retire into it on every appearance of dan- 
ger; but the principles of ruin are at work within 
them, and although their progress may be slow, the 
result is certain. 

THE WHELK. 

This may be a suitable place for mentioning, that the 
purple dye, for which the Tyrians were so famed, 
and to which there is frequent reference in the Scrip- 



164 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



tares, is supposed to have been obtained from two 
molluscous animals called, by Linnaeus and other 
naturalists, murex, and buccinum, or whelk. The 




THE MUREX. 



principal information we possess on the ancient 
modes of dyeing, is derived from Aristotle and Pliny. 
The price of the dyed wool varied according to the 
supply of these mollusca; but as only a few drops of 
the fluid could be obtained from each animal, it 
almost equalled the precious metals in value. A sin- 
gle shell, according to Aristotle, sold for a mina, or 
about three pounds. In the time of the Emperor 
Augustus, one pound of wool dyed with the Tyrian 
purple could not be bought for thirty pounds. The 
purple was worn by the magistrates of Rome, but as 
it became scarcer, the use of it was confined to the 
emperors under pain of death. 

The buccinum was found in 1686, by Cole, in great 
plenty on some parts of the Irish coast, and on the 
shores of Somersetshire and South Wales. The juice 
of the buccinum, when first taken out of the vein or 
reservoir, was white and clammy. When this viscid 
juice was squeezed on linen or silk, and exposed to 
the sun, it immediately acquired a pale yellowish- 
green hue, then a blue, and lastly a deep purple red. 
On washing the cloth with scalding water and soap, 



THE PEARL-OYSTER. 165 

and again exposing it to the sun, the colour changed 
to a beautiful crimson, and then became fixed. The 
linen, when first marked with the juice, yielded a 
fetid smell like garlick, which was the case with the 
purple dye of the ancients. The high estimation in 
which purple stuffs were held, may be known from 
the various references to it in the Bible. The curtains 
and veil of the tabernacle, the veil of Solomon's tem- 
ple, and the garments of Aaron, and his sons, were 
made in part of materials of this colour, Exod. xxv. 4; 
xxxv. 6; xxxvi. 8, 35; xxxix. 29; 2 Chron. hi. 14. 
Purple, either the dye itself, or dyed cloth, was an 
article of commerce, as appears from Ezek. xxvii. 7, 
16. Lydia, who was converted by Paul's preaching, 
was "a seller of purple." Acts xvi. 14. 

Purple and scarlet robes were worn by the rich, 
Luke xvi. 19 ; by kings, and others high in office and 
honour, as Daniel and Mordecai; (Dan. v. 7, 29 ; Esth. 
viii. 15; Judg. viii. 26;) and idols were sometimes 
clothed in purple. Jer. x. 9. It was in mockery of 
Christ that the Roman soldiers put upon him a purple 
robe. Mark xv. 17; John xix. 2. 



THE PEARL-OYSTER. 

This belongs to the same class of molluscous animals 
as the common oyster. They have no apparent head, 
but a mere mouth concealed in the bottom or between 
the folds of their mantle, which encloses the body as 
a book is clasped by its cover. 

The pearl is a body of variable size and form, com- 
posed of layers of the substance called mother-of-pearl. 
The two most celebrated pearl fisheries in the Old 
World are on the west coast of Ceylon, and at the 
Bahrein Islands, in the Persian Culf; in the New 
World, those on the coast of Colombia, and the Bay 
of Panama. In Europe a certain number of pearls 
are obtained from a molluscous animal called the 
unio margaritifera, found in the great northern 
rivers and lakes; those of the Tay, in Scotland, are 
held in some esteem. But though these union pearls, 



166 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

as they are called, are sometimes fine and large, they 
have little or no brilliancy. 

The fishing season at Ce3 T lon begins in February 
and ends early in April. Each boat contains, besides 
the pilot, ten rowers and ten divers ; the latter descend, 
into the sea five at a time ; each man makes perhaps 
forty or fifty plunges in a day, bringing up every time 
about one hundred oysters. The usual time of remain- 
ing under water does not exceed two minutes, though 
instances have been known of submersion for five and 
even six minutes ; but the shortest time so often re- 
peated produces most serious injury to the divers, 
who are in consequence seldom long-lived : they are 
also in constant hazard of being the prey of the ground- 
shark ; ignorant of the true God, who " made the 
depths of the sea/' they seek protection from this for- 
midable enemy in the charms of their priests and con- 
jurors, who are known in the Malabar language by 
the name of pillal-karras, or binders of sharks. 
During the time of the fishery, the conjurors stand on 
the shore till the boats return in the afternoon, mutter- 
ing prayers, distorting their bodies into various strange 
attitudes, and performing ceremonies. All this time 
they ought to abstain from food and drink, but they 
sometimes regale themselves with intoxicating liquor 
till they are unable to stand at their devotions ! 

The oriental pearls have a fine polished gloss, and 
are tinged sometimes with yellow ; some are of a pure 
white, and others have a beautiful blush of red. 

We find the word u pearl" but once in our transla- 
tion of the Old Testament, Job xxviii. IS ; answering 
to a word which means " hailstones" in Ezek. xiii. 11, 
13, and xxxviii. 22; and when applied to precious 
stones it would seem to refer to a kind resembling 
hail in form or colour, or in both. The word translated 
rubies in Job. xxviii. IS: and in Prov. iii. 15 ; viii. 11 ; 
xx. 15; xxxi. 10; Lam. iv. 7, undoubtedly signifies 
pearls. 

In Matt, xiii., our Lord compares the kingdom of 
heaven to a merchant in quest of pearls, " who, when 
he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold 



THE PEARL-OYSTER. 167 

all that he had, and bought it." It is thus that we 
must value the blessings of the gospel, or we shall 
never obtain them. In the parable, it is evidently im- 
plied that all the merchant possessed was no more 
than enough to purchase the pearl. Had he offered 
to part with half his possessions, or even with the 
whole, a small part excepted, he would not have 
gained his object. How many, it is to be feared, there 
are, who would part with some things, yea with many 
things, if, by so doing they could gain heaven, and 
yet retain some favourite earthly good ! 

But must I part with all! 

My heart still fondly pleads: 
Yes— Dagon's self must fall : 

It beats, it throbs, it bleeds : 
Is there no balm in Gilead found, 
To soothe and heal the smarting wound ? 

O yes, there is a balm, 

A kind Physician there, 

My fever'd mind to calm, 

To bid me not despair. 

Dear Saviour ! help me — set me free — 

And I will all resign to thee! 

Jane Taylor. 



CLASS VIL-CORAL. 



There are many kinds of coral, and one of a fine 
red is well known, and much used for ornamental pur- 
poses. It is the coral of commerce. Coral of every 
kind is the production of myriads of little animals 

of the polypus kind, for 
which it answers the 
same purpose as the shell 
of the oyster. It is fixed 
to the bottom of the sea, 
and to the surfaces of 
sunken rocks; and some 
kinds increase in time to 
immense masses, forming 
the foundation of many 
islands in the Pacific and 
Indian Oceans, and ex- 
tending round them like 
reefs of rocks. Coral as- 
sumes various shapes ; 
some kinds resemble the 
stem and branches of a 
tree; others, as the brain 
coral, are large irregular 
masses, with cells, pits, 
and meandering elevations, on their surface. Others 
are indefinite in figure, and spread in layers. In the 
red coral, the surface of the calcareous stem and 
branches is smooth; but in the extensive group term- 
ed madrepores, whether branched, convex, or spread- 
ing, the surface presents innumerable cells, each con- 
taining a distinct individual, called a polypus, or polype, 




Coral of Commerce, with the polypi. 
The ends of the branches are represented 
as stripped of their living envelopes. 



CORAL. 



169 



with its mouth and tentacles, which latter it extends in 
quest of food. These polypes, though acting each for 
themselves, constitute a compound whole, being vital- 
ly united to each other, by means of a living gelatinous 
expansion which covers the calcareous coral, as with 




Gorgonia pustulosa.— The pustular covering, and also the flexible 
horny stems denuded. 

a sort of soft bark or skin; thus the calcareous portion 
acts as an internal support, or rude skeleton, deposited 
by the living gelatine. 

Coral is mentioned among the costly merchandise 
of Tyre. Ezek. xxvii. 16. Pliny informs us, that the 
coral was highly esteemed by the ancients, and says 
that " the Indians value coral as we value pearls." 
(xxxii. 2.) 



16 



THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



Many productions of the vegetable kingdom are no- 
ticed in the Scriptures ; many herbs and trees are 
alluded to ; and it is desirable that the reader should 
understand them, in order to appreciate the allusions, 
or the full meaning of the passages wherein they are 
mentioned. Plants are all more or less important to 
men and animals ; and of some, the productions have 
been deemed in all ages of the highest value — the sus- 
tenance of man and the domestic beasts of labour de- 
pending upon them. We allude to the grains, or corn, 
of various kinds of grasses, as wheat, barley, rye, rice, 
maize, oats, and others. Nor are the fruits of trees, of 
shrubs, and various plants, as of the fig, the vine, the 
melon, the gourd, etc., gifts to be undervalued by man, 
who, condemned to eat his bread in the sweat of his 
brow, is bound to receive all supplies from the hand 
of Providence with gratitude and thanksgiving. 



CORN. 

Corn is the general name in Scripture for grain of all 
kinds, as wheat, rye, barley, etc. The word (bar) 
translated "corn," Gen. xli. 35, and "wheat," in Jer. 
xxiii. 28; Joel ii. 24 ; Amos v. 11, is undoubtedly the 
burr, or wild corn of the Arabs. 

The land of Canaan produced corn in great abun- 
dance. It was a land of " wheat." Deut. viii. 8 ; xxxii. 
14. From this country the markets of Tyre were sup- 
plied, the best of it coming from Minnith, on the east 
of Jordan. Ezek. xxvii. 17. This appears also, to have 




COEN. 171 

been the case long after, when the country of Tyre 
and Sidon was nourished by King Herod's country, 
that is, drew supplies of provisions from it. Acts xii. 20. 

Wheat, as separate from 
chaff, is used, in a figurative 
sense, to represent Divine 
truth, as distinguished from 
the doctrines of false teach- 
ers. Jer. xxiii. 28. In the 
same way, it represents the 
righteous as separated from 
the wicked in their charac- 
ters and future destiny. Matt. 
iii. 12. Blessings are pro- 
mised to the obedient, under the figure of a plentiful 
harvest. Ps. lxxxi. 16 ; Joel ii. 24. On the other hand, 
of the disobedient it is said, " They have sown wheat, 
but shall reap thorns." Jer. xii. 13. 

Barley is named very frequently in the Bible. 
Twenty thousand measures of barley were paid by 
Solomon to Hiram's workmen, who assisted in build- 
ing the temple. With twenty barley loaves Elisha 
miraculously fed one hundred men, 2 Kings iv. 42 ; 
and with five loaves of the same kind, and two fishes, 
the Saviour fed five thousand. John vi. 9. The crops 
of barley in Egypt were destroyed by the plague of 
hail ; and the sacred historian informs us, that the 
wheat and the rye were not smitten, for they were not 
grown up. The mention of this simple fact answers a 
valuable purpose, in enabling us to fix the date of 
these extraordinary judgments. Flax is ripe in March, 
and must, therefore, have been boiled, or risen in stalk, 
in February ; and as the wheat harvest takes place in 
Lower Egypt in May, and in Upper Egypt in April, 
the barley must have been in ear in February.* The 
priority of the barley harvest to the wheat harvest is 
implied in Ruth ii. 23. Barley is the common food of 
horses in eastern countries, as oats do not flourish 
there. 1 Kings iv. 28. 

* " In Palestine the barley harvest precedes the wheat harvest by a 
week or fortnight." — Robinson's Biblical Researches, vol. ii. 99. 



172 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

Millet is mentioned only in Ezek. iv. 9. It has 
been supposed to be the grain called dhourra, which, 
according to Niebuhr, " when made into bad bread, 
with camel's milk, oil, butter, or grease, is almost the 
only food which is eaten by the common people in 
Arabia Felix." In Egypt there are three harvests of 
dhourra in the course of a year. The grains are three 
times as large as those of the common millet known 
in this country. Its fruitfulness is very great, so that 
it often yields two hundred fold. " In the hottest sea- 
son of the year, the only green thing which is to be 
seen in Palestine is the foliage of the scattered fruit- 
trees, and occasional vineyards and fields of millet. 
The deep green of the broad fig-leaves, and of the 
millet, is delightful to the eye in the midst of the gene- 
ral aridness ; while the foliage of the olive, with its 
dull greyish hue, scarcely deserves the name of ver- 
dure." — Robinson's Biblical Researches, ii. 99. 



LENTILES. 

This is the leguminous or podded vegetable of which 
the " red pottage" was made, for which Esau parted 
with his birthright. Gen. xxv. 30 — 34. Mr. Kitto 
states, that he " has often partaken of this self-same 
6 red pottage,' (made by seething lentiles in water, and 
then adding a little suet, to give them a flavour, and 
found it much better food than a stranger would be 
apt to imagine. The mess had the redness which 
gained for it the name of 'adorn,' and which, through 
the singular circumstance of a son selling his birthright 
to satisfy the cravings of a pressing appetite, it im- 
parted to the posterity of Esau. The stem of the len- 
tile is branched, and the leaves consist of about eight 
pair of leaflets. The flowers are small, and in the 
upper division of the flower prettily veined. The pods 
contain about two seeds, which vary from a tawny 
red to a black. It delights in a dry, warm, sandy 
soil. Three varieties are cultivated in France ; small 
brown, yellowish, and the lentile of Provence. In the 



BEANS. THE COTTON-PLANT. 173 

former country they are dressed and eaten during 
Lent as a haricot. In Syria they are used as food, 
after they have undergone the simple process of 
being parched in a pan over the fire." {Illustrated 
Commentary, vol. i. p. 68.) Dr. Robinson mentions 
that, in travelling from Mount Sinai to Jerusalem, he 
purchased at Akaba a supply of lentiles, or small beans, 
which are common in Egypt and Syria, under the 
name of adas, (in Hebrew adash,) the same from 
which the pottage was made for which Esau sold his 
birthright. "We found them," he adds, "very palat- 
able, and could well conceive that, to a weary hunter 
faint with hunger, they might be quite a dainty." — 
Biblical Researches, vol. i. p. 246. The other pas- 
sages of the Bible in which lentiles are mentioned are 
2 Sam. xvii. 28 ; xxiii. 11 ; Ezek. iv. 9. 



BEANS. 

The sorts of this well-known vegetable, which are 
most usually cultivated in Syria, are the white horse- 
bean, and the kidney-bean, called by the natives 
urasch. The Hebrew name is phul; the Arabic 
phoulon. The prophet Ezekiel was directed to mix 
beans and other vegetables with wheat, for the pur- 
pose of making a coarse bread, of which he was to 
eat for three hundred and ninety days, as an action 
symbolical of the straits to which the Jews would be 
reduced. A similar method of making bread has 
been adopted by the Romans and several other 
nations, in time of great scarcity. Ezek. iv. Beans 
were among the provisions brought to David when 
flying from Absalom. 2 Sam. xvii. 28. 



THE COTTON PLANT. 

Cotton, in its native state, is a downy substance en- 
veloping the seeds of plants belonging to the genus 

16* 



174 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 




called by botanists Gossypium. These plants are 
herbaceous, or nearly so, and 
vary in height from three or 
four, to fifteen or twenty feet. 
The flowers are either yellow 
or dull purple, and are formed 
like the rest of the mallow tribe, 
to which they belong, accord- 
ing to the natural arrangement 
of plants. These are succeeded 
by a pod as large as a pigeon's 
egg, which when ripe turns 
black, and divides at top into three or five parts, dis- 
closing the seeds enveloped in the soft wool-like sub- 
stance called " cotton." 

" Cotton plants are found wild in both the Old and 
New World. Herodotus and Arrian speak of the cot- 
ton plant as indigenous in India, and the cloth found 
in Persian tombs sufficiently attests its having existed 
in that country long before it could possibly have been 
carried to America by Eastern intercourse. In fact, 
the wild American cotton plants are specifically differ- 
ent from those of the Old World; but at the present 
day, the cotton of the West is cultivated in Asia and 
Africa, while that of the East has long since been 
introduced to the American plantations." — Penny 
Cyclop, art. Cotton. 

The word rendered " fine linen" in our Bibles, is 
considered by the best critics to include cloth manu- 
factured of cotton as well as of flax. The same word 
is improperly rendered " silk," which we have no 
reason for believing the Jews were acquainted with 
till a comparatively late period. 



FLAX. 



From time immemorial, Egypt, and especially that 
part called the Delta, was celebrated for the produc- 
tion of flax; the stalks grew upwards of three feet in 
height, and were the thickness of a reed. Wrought 



LEEKS, ONIONS, AND GAELIC. 175 

into linen garments, it constituted the principal dress 
of the inhabitants, and the priests never put on any 
other kind of clothing. It was also cultivated in Pal- 
estine. In Josh. ii. 6, we are informed, that Rahab 
hid the spies " with stalks of flax," which were pro- 
bably laid on the roof to be dried in the sun. Linen 
was manufactured by the Hebrews for wearing appa- 
rel, 2 Sam. vi. 14; Pro v. xxxi. 13; Ezek. xliv. 17; 
Luke xxiv. 12; John xix. 40; for girdles, Jer. xiii. 1; 
for measuring-lines and cords, Ezek. xl. 3 ; Judg. xv. 
13. Flax was also used for the wicks of lamps, Isa. 
xiii. 3; xliii. 17. 



LEEKS, ONIONS, AND GARLIC. 

The names of these three vegetables occur in the Eng- 
lish version of Numb. xi. 5. The first word is no 
where else translated "leeks," but in twelve passages 
" grass." Yet the authority of the Septuagint sup- 
ports the common translation. Some critics suppose 
it means lettuce, and salads in general, and observe 
that succory and endive are much relished by the 
people in Egypt. The leek, however, has been from 
the earliest times, cultivated in Egypt. " The poor 
people," says Hasselquist, " eat it raw, with bread, 
especially for breakfast, and would scarcely exchange 
their leeks and a bit of bread for a royal dinner." 

Onions and garlic were highly esteemed in Egypt, 
where they acquire a much more delicate flavour than 
in colder countries. " Most of the people of Western 
Asia," Mr. Kitto observes, " are remarkably fond of 
onions. The Arabs, in particular, have even a child- 
ish passion for them. We have known poor Arabs 
wait for more than an hour, till the refuse of onions 
employed in cooking should be thrown away." — 
Illustrated Cominentary, i. 305. 

The Egyptians have been reproached with swear- 
ing by the leeks and onions of their gardens. Thus 
the Roman satirist ridicules those people who did not 
dare to eat these vegetables for fear of injuring their 



176 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

gods. But, then, it may be asked, would the Israelites 
have been permitted to make use of these sacred 
objects for food while under the Egyptian yoke ? The 
answer is, that, at that early period, the Egyptians do 
not appear to have fallen into such gross superstition; 
indeed, the contrary may be inferred from a fact 
stated by Herodotus, that, in his time, there was an 
inscription on the great pyramid, recording the ex- 
pense of radishes, onions, and garlic, consumed by 
the workmen during the progress of that vast under- 
taking, (an indirect corroboration, we may remark 
by the way, of the sacred narrative). And, though 
the priests might abstain from them, this might be 
affirmed of several other vegetables, which, neverthe- 
less, were freely eaten by the people. 



BITTER HERBS. 

In the directions given for eating the paschal lamb, it 
is said, " And they shall eat the flesh in that night, 
roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter 
herbs they shall eat it." Exod. xii. 8; Numb. ix. 11. 
The Jewish writers reckon five species of these bitter 
herbs. 1. Chuzareth, or lettuce. 2. UZsi?i, supposed 
to be endive or succory. 3. Tamca, probably tansey. 
4. Charub binim, or camomile. 5. Meror, sow-this- 
tle, dandelion, or wild lettuce. Forskal, the friend 
and fellow traveller of Niebuhr, says, that the Jews in 
Sana and in Egypt, eat the lettuce with the paschal 
lamb. 



CUCUMBERS AND MELONS. 

Mentioned only in Numbers xi. 5. These vegetables 
abound in the East, particularly in Egypt, and are 
much superior to those of this country. The water 
melon is cultivated on the banks of the Nile, in the 
rich clayey earth which subsides during the inunda- 
tion, from the beginning of May to the end of July, or 



CUCIDIBEKS AND MELONS. 177 

the beginning of August ; and in the Delta, especially 
at Beulos, whence the largest and best are brought. 
They serve the Egyptians for meat, drink, and physic. 
The common people eat them with bread, and scarcely 
ever taste them ripe. They serve them like wine for 



H _ 





"oi?~s<=$ 



EASTERN MELON GARDEN. 

drink, the juice refreshing these poor creatures. When 
tire fruit is almost putrid, they hollow part of it, 
gather the juice there collected, and mixing it with 
rose water and a little sugar, they give it in burning 
fevers, being the only medicine the common people 
use in those distempers. The common cucumber 
grows with the water melon. The common people 
boil and eat it with vinegar ; the richer people fill it 
with flesh and aromatics, and make a kind of pudding, 
which eats very well. It ripens a little later than the 
water melon, but then it is in season longer, and until 
the latter end of the autumn. "A traveller in the 
east," says Mr. Kitto, " who recollects the intense 
gratitude which the gift of a slice of melon inspired, 
while journeying over the hot and dry plains, or one 
who remembers the consciousness of wealth and secu- 
rity which he derived from the possession of a melon, 
while preparing for a day's journey over the same 



178 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

plains, he will readily comprehend the regret with 
which the Hebrews in the Arabian desert looked back 
upon the melons of 'Egypt."— Illust. Comment, i. 304. 
The prophet Isaiah pathetically describes the deso- 
lation of his country by saying, " The daughter of 
Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a 
garden of cucumbers." Isa. i. 8. On this passage the 
writer last quoted has the following interesting re- 
marks: "Cucumbers, melons, and the like, are culti- 
vated in large open fields quite exposed to the depre- 
dations of men or beasts. To prevent this, a slight 
artificial mound is raised, if required, and on this is 
constructed a hut or booth just sufficient for one per- 
son, who remains constantly watching the ripening 
crop. Very often has our travelling party paused, on 
arriving at such melon grounds, to bargain with the 
watchman for a supply of his refreshing fruit; and on 
such occasions, often seeing no object around to a 
great distance in the plain but this one man and his 
solitary shed, we have been most forcibly reminded of 
the peculiar appropriateness of the image of desola- 
tion suggested by the prophet." — Illust. Comment. 
iv. 2. 

PITCHES. 

There are two words in the Hebrew which our trans- 
lators have rendered " fitches. " One, used in Ezek. iv. 
9, is translated " rye," in Exod. ix. 32, and Isa. xxviii. 
25; the other occurs only in Isa. xxviii. 25, 27, and 
must be the name of some kind of seed. The general 
opinion is in favour of ' nigella, a ranunculaceous plant, 
well known in the East, and the seeds of which are 
used as a condiment, as we use carraway seeds. The 
leaves of the plant are small, like those of the crow- 
foot; the flower is blue, which disappearing, the ovary 
shows itself on the top like that of a poppy, furnished 
with little horns, oblong, divided by membranes into 
several partitions, in which are enclosed seeds of a 
very black colour, not unlike those of the leek, but of 
very fragrant smell. Pliny says it is of use in bake- 



CORIANDER. SESAMUM. 179 

houses, and affords a grateful seasoning to bread. It 
forms a striking exception to other plants of the same 
family, which are many of them (such as the aconite) 
strong poisons, while the seeds of this are not merely 
innocent and agreeable, but even medicinal. 



CORIANDER. 

This is an annual plant of the umbelliferous kind, 
common in the south of Europe and in Egypt. It has 
a round slender stalk; the leaves that grow next the 
root are nearly entire or gashed; the stem-leaves are 
doubly cleft, and their segments are deeply divided, 
while the uppermost leaves are parted into many nar- 
row linear segments. The flowers grow in an umbel, 
and are of a pale pink colour. In most plants of this 
family, (as parsley for example,) the fruit separates 
into two similar halves, which are the seeds; but in 
the coriander, the globular fruit remains undivided 
after it is ripe. It was used by the Egyptians chiefly 
to give an aromatic flavour to their food. 

Mint, dill, cummin, and rue. The first three 
plants are mentioned in our Lord's denunciation of the 
hypocrisy of the Pharisees, Matt, xxiii. 23 ; but in the 
parallel passages, Luke xi. 42, only the first and last 
are specified. Dill is the plant meant by the word in- 
correctly translated "anise" in our English version, 
owing probably to the great similarity of the names 
in the original. Mint and rue are so well known in 
this country, that a description of them is needless. 
Of dill and cummin it may suffice to say, that they are 
both umbelliferous plants, resembling the coriander 
in their general appearance and the qualities of their 
seeds. 



SESAMUM. 

The sesamum [sesamum orientate; natural family, 
Sesamise) has been cultivated in the East from the 
earliest times, and is supposed, by some critics, to be 



180 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

referred to by Isaiah, (xxviii. 25,) under the phrase 
"the appointed barley." Herodotus, speaking of the 
productions of Babylonia, says, "As for millet and se- 
same, atj6afivj y or orjoa/xov, sesame or sesamon,) the plant 
becomes a tree of such magnitude, that though I have 
a personal acquaintance with the fact, I forbear to 
mention the size; feeling assured that those who have 
never visited the province of Babylonia will deem 
what I have already said of its produce as incredible. 
They (the people) use no oil except what is obtained 
from sesame." Simpscn, or simsen, is the Egyptian 
and Arabian name of one of the species or varieties 
most remarkable for the quantity and quality of the 
oil expressed from its seed. This oil, which is very 
delicate, is employed as an article of diet in eastern 
nations, and hence the plant is cultivated in India, 
Syria, and Egypt, and has been introduced into the 
West Indies. 

Sesamum seeds are sometimes added to broths, or 
soups, and frequently to cakes,' by the Jews and mo- 
dern orientals. The leaves of the plant are mucilagin- 
ous, and used for poultices; and in India, the oil, 
which is bland, and will keep many years without be- 
coming rancid, as salad or olive oil in Europe. Two 
varieties of the seeds are known in commerce, a black 
and white sort, the products of two distinct species ; 
sesamum seed and oil are imported into this country 
from India and Egypt, but the seed from the latter 
country is of the finest quality. Four or five species 
are distinguished by botanists, but many are disposed 
to consider them as the cultivated varieties of one 
single species, and with some reason. 

The sesamum is an annual plant, with opposite and 
alternate leaves, and axillary flowers, and attains to 
the height of three or four feet; in some varieties the 
lower leaves are three-lobed, the upper entire, and the 
branches very numerous. The generic characters, as 
presented by the flower, are as follow: calyx five- 
parted, corolla with a short tube, and bell-shaped 
throat, the limb quinquifid, somewhat bilabiate. Sta- 
mens four, didynamous, with the rudiments of a fifth 



MUSTARD. 



181 



stamen. Stigma bilamellate. Capsule oblong, four- 
celled, two-valved. Seeds numerous. 



MUSTARD. 

" The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard 
seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which 
indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, 
it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, 
so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the 
branches thereof." Matt. xiii. 31, 32. 

" Our Lord's words on this occasion are to be inter- 
preted by popular use; and that there was a species 
of mustard, (sinapis,) or, at least, what the orientals 
comprehended under that name, which rose to the 
size of a tree, appears from the writings of the rab- 
bis, men who will not be suspected of partiality 
when their testimony happens to favour the writers of 
the New Testament." — (Dr. G. Campbell.) 




A. B. Lambert, f. r. s. etc., in the Linnean Trans- 
actions, vol. xvii. p. 449, contends that it is the sinapis 
nigra of botanists. u I am conviced," he says, " it 
is the mustard now in daily use among us. Mustard 
seed was used by the Romans and other nations of 

17 



182 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

antiquity in medicine, as it is at this day. I shall 
endeavour to prove from the New Testament that the 
sinapis nigra is the plant our Saviour alluded to in 
Matt. xiii. 31, 32 ; Mark iv. 31, 32. 

" Our Saviour is not to be understood as speaking 
scientifically or specifically, when he said the 'small- 
est of seeds ;' he was speaking only comparatively, 
and meant no more than a small seed ; and when he 
spoke of it as the greatest of herbs, and becoming a 
tree, he may be supposed to have meant no more 
than that it bore a resemblance to a tree of low stat- 
ure. Its branches would give it the appearance of a 
tree, and small birds might lodge or rest upon it. 

" Now in the two last verses quoted, (Mark iv. 31, 
32,) we find it described as a great herb, and branched, 
so that the fowls of the air might lodge under it, as 
the partridge and quail do under our corn. 

"The following passage, in Luke xvii. 6, 'And 
the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard 
seed/ plainly shows that it was a grain in common 
use, and he therefore chose it as his figure, that it 
might be understood by the meanest capacity. What 
Mr. Frost says about the phytolacca he took from 
some conversation he heard in my library, not relating 
to the mustard seed of Scripture, but to a plant men- 
tioned by Captains Irby and Mangles, of which they 
brought me a specimen, and which proved to be Sal- 
vador a persica, found by them growing in a hot 
valley of the Holy Land, although a very common 
plant in the East Indies. 

" Now, as there is but one mustard seed mentioned 
in three different places in the Scriptures, the oldest 
records appear to prove that the mustard so common 
in those days, and to which our Saviour so often 
alludes, was a species of sinapis, and most probably 
sinapis nigra. 

" Captains Irby and Mangles inform me, they have 
seen our mustard plant in the Holy Land, growing as 
high as their horses' heads ; and other travellers have 
seen the sinapis nigra, growing to the height of ten 
feet." 



HYSSOP. 183 



HYSSOP. 



The plant usually known by this name has bushy 
stalks, growing a foot and a half high ; small, spear- 
shaped, close-sitting, opposite leaves, with several 
smaller ones rising from the same joint; and all the 
stalks and branches terminated by erect whoried 
spikes of flowers, of different colours in the varieties 
of the plant. The leaves have an aromatic smell, and 
a warm pungent taste. 

Under the law, it was commonly used in purifica- 
tions, for the purpose of sprinkling blood or water. 
When the people of Israel came out of Egypt, they 
were commanded to take a bunch of hyssop, to dip it 
in the blood of the paschal lamb, and sprinkle it on the 
lintel, and the two side-posts of the door. It was also 
used in sprinkling the leper, Lev. xiv. 1-7, and those 
who had defiled themselves by touching a corpse. 
Numb. xix. 18. The hyssop is extremely well adapt- 
ed to such purposes, as it grows in bunches, and puts 
out many suckers from a single root. This peculiarity 
of form, and not any cleansing property of the plant 
itself, seems to be a sufficient reason for its use. The 
expression of the fifty-first Psalm, " Purge me with 
hyssop," may most naturally be understood as an 
allusion to the use of the plant already mentioned, in 
scattering either blood or water over persons and 
tilings. In John xix. 29, it is observed that, at the 
crucifixion of our Lord, " they filled a sponge with 
vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his 
mouth ;" while in Matt, xxvii. 48, and Mark xv. 36, 
the sponge filled with vinegar is said to be " put on a 
reed." Some commentators have supposed that there 
. must have been some plant in Judea, of the lowest 
class of trees or shrubs, which was either a species 
of hyssop, or had a strong resemblance to what the 
Greeks called by that name, the stalk of which is 
what is meant by the reed in Matthew and Mark ; 
and others, that there was a species of hyssop whose 
stalk was sometimes two feet long, which was suffi- 
cient to reach a person on the cross. The height to 



184 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

which the cross reached was seldom above eleven or 
twelve feet; thus the feet of the person suspended 
would not be more than four feet from the ground, a 
height by no means so great as some persons have 
imagined. It, therefore, seems unnecessary to sup- 
pose, with some critics, that it was not the common 
hyssop, but a larger plant, possessing detergent, or 
cleansing qualities. The phytolacca decandria has 
been fixed upon, because it has a long strait stem, 
and contains, like others of the same tribe to which it 
belongs, (chenopodium, or goose-foot,) a very large 
proportion of potash ; a hundred pounds of its ashes 
afford forty-two pounds of pure caustic alkali. This 
plant, however, is chiefly found in Mexico and other 
parts of the New World ; nor is it likely that a plant 
only rarely, if at all, to be met with in Palestine, 
would be fixed upon to be used in the Mosaic ritual 
on so many occasions. Now the hyssop grows in 
abundance on the mountains near Jerusalem. It is 
also found in great plenty, with other fragrant plants, 
such as lavender and wild marjoram, on Mount Sinai. 
"This vegetation," says Dr. Robinson, " extends quite 
up to the foot of the highest peak, an immense pile of 
huge blocks of coarse red granite, thrown promis- 
cuously together." 

WORMWOOD. 

The common wormwood {artemesia absinthium,) is 
a small plant with a branching stem; its leaves have 
a silky, hoary appearance, owing to a thick covering 
of very fine hairs, and are very 
much divided ; they have a 
disagreeable smell, and are pro- 
verbial for their intense bitter- 
ness. The English name of 
this plant alludes to its virtue 
in expelling worms from the 
human body. 

From the passages of Scrip- 
ture where this plant is men- 
tioned, something more than 
the bitterness of its qualities seems to be intimated, 




BROOM. 185 

and effects are attributed to it greater than can be 
produced by the European species. It is used in the 
Bible in a figurative sense, to express what is destruc- 
tive, injurious, and detestable, and is frequently joined 
with gall and hemlock. Moses compares an aposta- 
tizing Israelite to "a root that beareth gall and worm- 
wood." Deut. xxix. 18. Of a wicked woman, Solo- 
mon says, "Her end is bitter as wormwood." Prov. 
v. 4. Those who pervert justice are said, by the 
prophet Amos, to "turn judgment to wormwood :" v. 
7. Jehovah thus denounces punishment on the peo- 
ple of Israel : "Behold, I will feed them with worm- 
wood, and give them water of gall to drink." Jer. ix. 
15; xxiii. 15. Jeremiah, speaking of his own suffer- 
ings, says, " He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath 
made me drunken with wormwood." Lament, hi. 15. 
In the Book of Revelation, the Divine judgments are 
depicted under the image of a star falling from heaven, 
" and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and 
the third part of the waters became wormwood; and 
many men died of the waters, because they were 
made bitter." Rev. viii. 11. 

Hasselquist met with this plant on Mount Tabor. 



BROOM. 

The word translated "juniper," 1 Kings xix. 4, 5, in 
the English version, is the same as the Arabic name 
for " broom." This is the largest and most conspicu- 
ous plant found in the deserts of Arabia and Palestine, 
and grows thickly in the water-courses and valleys; it 
has small, whitish, variegated blossoms. The Arabs 
who accompanied Dr. Robinson in his journey through 
these parts, always selected, if possible, for their night- 
ly encampment, a spot where this plant grew, in order 
to be sheltered by it at night from the wind ; and, during 
the day, when they often went in advance of the 
camels, the'y were, not unfrequently, found sitting or 
sleeping under a bush of retem to protect them from 
the sun. There appears little reason to doubt, that 
17* 



186 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

under this shrub the prophet Elijah lay down and 
slept. The roots are very bitter, and regarded by the 
Arabs as yielding the best charcoal. This illustrates 
the reference to " coals of juniper," in Psal. cxx. 4. 
In travelling from Hebron to Petra, Dr. Robinson no- 
ticed in the valleys various trees and shrubs, and also 
the retem in great quantities, all very large. On the 
rocks above, he found the juniper tree, Arabic 'ar'ar, 
which he considers to be the same as the Hebrew aroer, 
Jer. xlviii. 6, where the English version and Luther's 
read "heath." Its berries had the appearance and 
taste of the common juniper, except that there was 
more of the aroma of the pine. The trees were ten 
or fifteen feet in height, and hung upon the rocks, 
even to the very summit of the cliffs. 



NETTLE. 

We find this name given to two different words. The 
first occurs in Job xxx. 7; and Zeph. ii. 9. It is not 
easy to determine what species of plant is here meant. 
Some have conjectured that it is the paliurus, or 
Christ's thorn, so called from its being supposed to be 
the plant from which the Jews platted the crown of 
thorns for our Saviour. It is armed with short, stiff, 
curved spines; has small shining ovate leaves, yel- 
lowish-green clustered flowers, and a broad broWn 
fruit, convex in the middle, but thin and uneven at 
the margin. In this country it is not uncommon in 
shrubberies, where it forms a beautiful bush when in 
flower, but does not ripen its fruit. From the passage 
in Job, it is evident the nettle could not be intended, 
for a plant is referred to large enough for people to 
take shelter under. The word used in Isa. xxxiv. 1 3, 
and Hos. ix. 6, very probably means the nettle. 



WILD GOURD. 

We read of the wild gourd in 2 Kings iv. 39. The 
prophet Elisha being at Gilgal, during a great famine, 



WILD GOURD. 



187 




bade one of his servants prepare an entertainment for 
" the sons of the prophets" who were in that place. 
" And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and 
found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds 
his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot." 
But when they were brought to table, and his guests 
tasted them, they cried out, " There is death in the 
pot." Immediately the prophet called for meal, threw 
it into the pot, and they received no injury from the 
food. The plant is generally sup- 
posed to have been that species 
of gourd called colocynth, or bit- 
ter apple. It is termed a wild 
vine from the shape of its leaves, 
and its climbing mode of growth. 
The leaves of the plant are large 
and alternate; the flowers w T hite; 
the fruit is about the size of an 
orange, but of a lighter colour; 
the rind smooth, and underneath it there is a white 
spongy pulp, or pith, which is employed in medicine 
as a purgative. It requires caution in its use, as 
an over dose has a decidedly poisonous effect. Dr. 
Robinson, in travelling from Suez to Mount Sinai, 
observed it growing in the valley of Feiran, with 
its yellow fruit already ripe towards the end of 
March. 

The gourd mentioned in Jonah iv. 6, has quite a 
different name in the original from the colocynth, and 
is supposed to have been the ricinus, or castor-oil 
tree. It is called at Aleppo palma Christi. Dr. Ro- 
binson found it in the neighbourhood of Jericho of a 
large size, and it is there considered a perennial 
plant, though usually described as a biennial. It 
rises with a strong herbaceous stalk, to the height 
of ten or twelve feet, and is furnished with very 
large leaves, not unlike those of the plane tree. It 
belongs to the natural order of the euphorbiacese, 
and hence is allied to the spurge, and the iatropha, 
or tapioca tree, - 



18S SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



MANDRAKES. 

This name is put in the English Bible for a Hebrew 
word, (dudaifn,) which occurs only twice, Gen. xxx. 
14-16, and Sol. Song. vii. 13. The plant generally 
known by this name, bears a bell-shaped flower and 
small round berries. It has a long, thick, dark-co- 
loured root, like a radish, sometimes single, but more 
frequently forked and twisted. From the top of this 
root rise a number of large, broad leaves, of a dark 
green colour and unpleasant smell. It is poisonous, 
and was formerly supposed to promote sleep. Has- 
selquist found it in abundance growing in a valley 
near Nazareth. " I had not the pleasure," he says, 
"to see this plant in blossom, the fruit now hanging 
ripe to the stem, which lay withered on the ground; 
but I got several roots, which I found difficult to pro- 
cure entire, as the inhabitants had no spades, but a 
kind of hoe, or ground axe; with this they cut up the 
earth, and hurt the root, which, in some plants, 
descended six and eight feet under ground. From 
the season in which this mandrake blossoms and bears 
fruit, one might form a conjecture that it was Rachel's 
dudaifn. These were brought her in the wheat har- 
vest, which, in Galilee, is the month of May, or about 
this time, and the mandrake was now in fruit. This 
plant grows in all parts of Galilee, but I never saw or 
heard any thing of it in Judea. The Arabs in this 
village call it by a name which signifies, in their lan- 
guage, the devil's victuals." 

From the connexion in which it is mentioned in 
Solomon's Song, some critics have inferred that it 
must have been a plant of very fragrant smell, and 
have fixed upon the plantain, or its variety the bana- 
na, as intended by the Hebrew word dudaim. "We 
can speak," says one writer, " from observation, and 
can bear witness, without exaggeration, that there is 
no fruit which is at once so grateful and nutritive as 
that of the banana. The leaves of this tree are re- 



APPLES OF SODOM. 189 

markable for their size, being three or four feet in 
length, and more than six inches in breadth. We 
have here a tree which agrees with the terms of Holy 
Scripture, one that deserved a place in the pleasure 
grounds of Solomon, which requites the pains of the 
cultivator by a plentiful harvest of delicious fruit, and 
perfumes the air with its ripe fragrance. The man- 
drakes give a [good] smell/' The fruit is of an 
oblong three-cornered shape, and grows in thick clus- 
ters. The skin is tough and leathery, and finally turns 
to a bright yellow. The pulp is of an orange colour, 
with scarcely any traces of a seed. On the fruit-stalk 
the eye discovers a bare space with a few scales, once 
occupied by barren flowers, which fall off before the 
fruit ripens. These flowers contain a great quantity 
of honey, and for that reason they are visited in South 
America by the humming birds, which are said to live 
chiefly on the nectareous juices of flowers. It is a 
native of Egypt, and, in better times, of Palestine. 



APPLES OP SODOM. 

The Bible speaks only of "the vine of Sodom," and 
that metaphorically, in Deut. xxxii. 32 ; but, as 
Sodom stands so conspicuous in 
Scripture history, it will hardly be 
overstepping the proper limits of 
this work to notice the remarkable 
production which derives its name 
from that place; we allude to the 
apples of Sodom, supposed by Dr. 
Robinson, to be the fruit of a tree 
called by the Arabs 'oskar. We 
give the description in the words of Dr. Robinson : — 
" Jlpples of Sodom. One of the first objects which 
attracted our notice on arriving at 'Ain Jidy, (a beau- 
tiful fountain, which bursts forth from a mountain near 
the Dead Sea, at the height of four hundred feet 
above its level,) was a tree with singular fruit, which, 
without knowing at the moment whether it had been 




190 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

observed by former travellers, or not, instantly sug- 
gested to our minds the far-famed fruits 

' which grew 
Near that bituminous lake where Sodom stood.' 

This was the 'oskar of the Arabs, (the calotropis gi- 
gantea of botanists,) which is found in abundance in 
Upper Egypt and Nubia, and also in Arabia Felix, 
but seems to be confined, in Palestine, to the borders 
of the Dead Sea. We saw it only at ' Ain Jidy ; Has- 
selquist found it in the desert between Jericho and 
the northern shore; and Irby and Mangles met with 
it of large size at the south end of the sea, and on the 
isthmus of the peninsula. 

" We saw here several trees' of the kind, the trunks 
of which were six or eight inches in diameter, and the 
whole height from ten to fifteen feet. It has a greyish, 
cork-like bark, with long oval leaves, and, in its gene- 
ral appearance and character, it might be taken for a 
gigantic species of the milk-weed, or silk-weed, found 
in the northern parts of the American States. Its 
leaves and flowers are very similar to those of the 
latter plant ; and, when broken off, it in like manner 
discharges copiously a milky fluid. The fruit greatly 
resembles externally a large smooth apple or orange, 
hanging in clusters of three or four together, and 
when ripe, is of a yellow colour. It was now fair and 
delicious to the eye, and soft to the touch; but, on 
being pressed or struck, it explodes with a puff, like 
a bladder or puff-ball, leaving in the hand only the 
shreds of the rind and a few fibres. It is, indeed, 
chiefly filled with air, like a bladder, which gives it 
the round form; while in the centre a small tender 
pod runs through it from the stem, and is connected 
by thin filaments with the rind. The pod contains a 
small quantity of fine silk with seeds, precisely like the 
pod of the silk-weed, though very much smaller, be- 
ing, indeed, scarcely the tenth part as large. The 
Arabs collect the silk, and twist it into matches for 
their guns, preferring it to the common match, because 
it requires no sulphur to render it combustible. 

" The most definite account we have of the apples 



APPLES OF SODOM. 191 

of Sodom, so called, is in Josephus, who, as a native 
of the country, is a better authority than Tacitus, or 
other foreign writers. After speaking of the confla- 
gration of the plain, and the yet remaining tokens of 
the Divine fire, he remarks that < there are still to be 
seen ashes reproduced in the fruits, which, indeed, re- 
semble edible fruits in colour, but on being plucked 
with the hands are dissolved into smoke and ashes!' 
In this account, after making due allowance for the 
marvellous in all popular reports, I find nothing which 
does not apply almost literally to the fruit of the 'oskar 
as we saw it. It must be plucked and handled with 
great care, in order to preserve it from bursting. We 
attempted to carry some of the boughs and fruit with 
us to Jerusalem, but without success. 

" Hasselquist finds the apples of Sodom in the fruit 
of the solarium ?nelongena, (night-shade, mad-apple,) 
which we saw in great abundance at 'Ain Jidy and in 
the plains of Jericho. These apples are much smaller 
than those of the 'oskar, and when ripe are full of 
small black grains. There is here, however, nothing 
like explosion, nothing like ' smoke and ashes/ except 
occasionally, as the same naturalist remarks, e when 
the fruit is punctured by an insect, (tenthredo,) which 
converts the whole of the inside to dust, leaving no- 
thing but the rind entire, without any loss of colour.' 
We saw the solanum and 'oskar growing side by side, 
the former presenting nothing remarkable in its ap- 
pearance, and being found in other parts of the coun- 
try, while the latter immediately arrested our attention 
by its singular accordance with the ancient story, and 
is, moreover, peculiar, in Palestine, to the shores of 
the Dead Sea." 

The opinion of Dr. Robinson and others, that the 
silk-bearing fruit of the 'oskar is the apple of Sodom, 
has been contradicted by A. B. Lambert, the botanist, 
in a paper to be found in the Linnean Transactions, 
vol. xvii. p. 445. We shall quote largely from it, 
leaving it to our readers to form their own conclusions, 
" Some time ago," says Mr. Lambert, " I had the ho- 
nour to submit to the Society the branch of a shrub 



192 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

from Monte Video, bearing galls, containing a new 
insect, brought by Mr. Earle, who accompanied Cap- 
tain Fitzroy in the Beagle. I have now the pleasure 
to exhibit specimens and a drawing of the far-famed 
apples, mala insana, from the mountains east of the 
Dead Sea, and which now proves to be a gall on a spe- 
cies of oak, containing an insect. These galls were 
brought from the Holy Land by the Hon. Robert Cur- 
zon. They are the first that have been seen in Eng- 
land, and will enable us to clear up the many great 
mistakes that have been made by travellers about 
them. Mr. Curzon tells me the tree that produces 
them grows in abundance on mountains in the neigh- 
bourhood of the Dead Sea, and is about the size of our 
apple tree. 

" There appear to be two or three different plants 
for whose fruit these galls have been mistaken, name- 
ly the solanum sodomeum, which appears to have 
been confounded with solanum melongena, and calo- 
tropis gig ant ea, etc. 

" I shall refer to what Hasselquist says of the mala 
insana, and likewise the account given of it in that 
useful work ' The Modern Traveller, 7 by Mr. Conder, 
who seems to have brought together all that has been 
said or written on this most interesting subject; and, 
what is very extraordinary, and greatly to the praise 
of that gentleman, having probably never seen the 
production itself, he rightly guessed its real nature. 
Mr. Curzon informs me, that these galls, when on the 
tree, are of a rich purple, and varnished over with a 
soft substance of the consistence of honey, shining 
with a most brilliant lustre in the sun, which makes 
the galls appear like a most delicious and tempting 
fruit. Having had the curiosity to taste a small quan- 
tity of the interior of one, I found it the strongest of 
bitters, and that it may truly be said of it, ' As bitter 
as gall." 

"The gall is pear-shaped, with a circle of small 
sharp-pointed protuberances on the upper part of it, 
which appear to be formed by the insect for air, or 
defence, or some other purpose. In each of the galls 



APPLES OF SODOM. 193 

there is an aperture through which the insect escapes, 
and in the centre there is a small round hole, or nidus, 
(nest,) where it has lodged." The tree is the quercus 
infectoria figured in Olivier's Travels in the Levant, 
and growing abundantly throughout Syria. The fol- 
lowing are extracts from Conder's " Modern Travel- 
ler." 

" Tacitus and Josephus both mention this fruit as 
beautiful to the eye, but crumbling at the touch to 
dust and bitter ashes. Reland, Maundrel, and Shaw, 
all express themselves sceptical concerning its exist- 
ence. But none of them explored the borders of the 
lake sufficiently to entitle them to give a decided opin- 
ion on the subject, having only seen its northern 
shore. Pococke is inclined to lay more stress on the 
ancient testimonies, and he supposes the apples to be 
pomegranates, which having a tough hard rind, and 
being left on the trees two or three years, the inside 
may be dried to dust, and the outside remain fair. 
Hasselquist pronounces the poma sodomica to be the 
fruit of the egg-plant night-shade, or mad-apple, (so- 
lanum melongena,) which he states is found in great 
abundance round Jericho, in the valleys near Jordan, 
and in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea. It is true, 
he says, these apples are sometimes full of dust, but 
this appears only when the fruit is attacked by an 
insect, which converts the whole of the inside into 
dust, leaving nothing but the rind entire. M. Seetzen, 
differing from Hasselquist in opinion, supposes the 
apple of Sodom to be the fruit of a species of cotton 
tree which he was told grows in the plain of El Ghor, 
in appearance resembling a fig-tree, and known by 
the name of abeschaez. The cotton is contained in 
the fruit, which is like a pomegranate, but has no 
pulp. Chateaubriand follows with his discovery of 
what he concludes to be the long-sought-for fruit. 
The shrub which bears it, he says, grows two or three 
leagues from the mouth of the Jordan; it is thorny, 
with small taper leaves, and its fruit is exactly like 
the little Egyptian lemon, both in size and colour. 
Before it is ripe, it is filled with a corrosive and saline 

18 



194 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

juice; when dried, it yields a blackish seed, which 
may be compared to ashes, and which in taste resem- 
bles bitter pepper. 

"Next comes Mr. Joliffe. He found in a thicket of 
brushwood, about half a mile from the plain of Jeri- 
cho, a shrub five or six feet high, on which grew 
clusters of fruit about the size of a small apricot, of 
a bright yellow colour; and observes, that possibly 
when ripe they may crumble into dust upon any vio- 
lent pressure. This shrub is probably the same as 
that described by Chateaubriand. 

" Lastly, Captains Irby and Mangles have no doubt 
that they have discovered it in the 'oskar plant, which 
is probably the same as that to which M. Seetzen 
refers." 

Excluding the pomegranate, and the egg-plant 
night-shade, as having no claims to be regarded as 
the deceitful fruit in question, Mr. Conder argues with 
respect to the 'oskar, that there is little resemblance 
between cotton or thistle down, and ashes or dust ; 
and that the fruit noticed by Chateaubriand, full of 
bitter seed, has more resemblance to the fruit as de- 
scribed by Tacitus and Josephus ; but that it is after 
all possible that " what they describe may have origi- 
nated like the oak galls in this country, in the work 
of some insect; for these remarkable productions 
sometimes acquire a considerable size and beauty of 
colour." 

Such are the galls discovered by the Hon. Mr. Curzon 
in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea, and described 
by Mr. Lambert, who records them as the poma so- 
domica, the far-famed apple of Sodom. 



HEMLOCK 

Occurs in Deut. xxix. 18; xxxii. 32; Psa. lxix. 21; 
Jer. viii. 14; ix. 15 ; xxiii. 15 ; Lam. iii. 15, 19 ; Hosea 
x. 4 ; and Amos vi. 12. In the two latter places our 
translators have rendered the word " hemlock," in the 
others "gall." 



HEMLOCK. 195 

It is evident from Deut. xxix. 18, that some herb or 
plant is meant of a malignant or nauseous kind, 
being there joined with " wormwood," and in the 
margin of our Bibles, explained to be "a poisonful 
herb." 

Hemlock has a long, taper root, like a carrot ; an 
erect branched, bright green, spotted stern, from five 
to ten feet high, on which are planted, smooth, finely- 
cut, large fern-like leaves. The flowers are very 
numerous, arranged in umbels, and consist of five 
small white heart-shaped petals. Each flower is fol- 
lowed by two seeds, flat on one side and round on the 
other, with five ribs. It has an extremely unpleasant 
smell, and when it grows in the field is not easily got 
rid of. It is very poisonous, though not so violent as 
the water-hemlock. 

The poisonous principle of hemlock appears to be 
an alkaline substance termed conia, which is volatile 
and oleaginous. It has been obtained from the leaves, 
and form the fully developed but still green seed. Its 
activity is increased by union with acids, both mine- 
ral and vegetable. 



TARES. 

Gather ye together first the tares.— Matt. xiii. 30. 

It is not easy to determine what plant or weed is 
here intended, as the word zizania is mentioned 
neither in any other part of the Scripture nor in any 
ancient Greek writer. It appears from the parable 
itself, (as Dr. Campbell remarks,) 1st. That this weed 
was not only hurtful to the corn, but otherwise of no 
value, and therefore to be separated and burned. 
2dly. That it resembled corn, especially wheat, since 
it was only when the wheat was putting forth the 
ear, that these weeds were discovered. Now neither 
of these characters will suit the tare, which is excel- 
lent food for cattle, and sometimes cultivated for their 
use; and which, being a species of vetch, is distin- 



196 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



guished from corn the moment it appears above 
ground. Now, as it cannot be the tare that is meant, 
it is highly probable that it is the darnel, (in Latin 
lolium,) that species called by botanists temulentum, 
which grows among corn, not the lolium perenne, 



% \ 







commonly called ray, and corruptly rye-grass, which 
grows in meadows. For first, this appears to be the 
Latin word, by which the Greek was wont to be in- 
terpreted. Secondly, it agrees to the characters above 
mentioned. It is a noxious weed ; for when the seeds 
happen to be mingled and ground with the corn, the 
bread made with this mixture always occasions sick- 
ness and giddiness in those who eat it; and the straw 
has the same effect upon the cattle ; it is from this 
quality, and the appearance of drunkenness which it 
produces, that it is termed ivraie in French, and has 
the specific name temulentum given it by botanists.* 
It is well known to the people at Aleppo, says Forskal ; 
the reapers do not separate the plant, but after the 



* Campbell on the Gospels, Notes on Matt. xiii. 



TARES. 197 

threshing they reject the seeds by means of a van or 
sieve. Other travellers mention, that in some parts 
of Syria the plant is drawn up by the hand in the time 
of harvest along with the wheat, and is then gathered 
out and bound in separate bundles. In the parable of 
the tares, our Lord states the very same circumstances ; 
they grew among the grain ; they were not separated 
by the tillers, but suffered to grow up together till the 
harvest; they were then gathered from among the 
wheat, and bound in bundles. 

While we are desirous to furnish our young readers 
with the amplest information relative to the natural 
objects which are mentioned in Scripture, we are far 
more anxious to fix their attention on those truths of 
infinite moment which these objects are employed 
to illustrate. May we presume that some of them at 
least will not be indisposed to serious reflection, nor 
turn away with impatience from suggestions intended 
to affect their consciences, or to answer the question, 
What is all this to me ? In the parable of the tares, 
as in that of the draught of fishes, which has been 
already noticed, there is a great truth presented, which 
cannot be too deeply impressed on our hearts, that, 
amidst all the apparently infinite shades and diversi- 
ties of human character, there are still two great classes 
represented by the tares and the wheat. With respect 
to numbers of our fellow creatures it is impossible for 
us to determine to which class they belong, and it 
would be easy to find good reasons why this ability 
is not granted to us. " What shall this man do?" was 
the question of the over-curious disciple, which his 
Divine Master imperatively checked by saying, " What 
is that to thee? follow thou me." If, then, we would 
know whether we are to be ranked with the tares or 
the wheat, let us put to ourselves the question, Am I 
following Christ ? 

" I am the light of the world," said our blessed 
Lord: "he that followeth me shall not walk in dark- 
ness, but shall have the light of life." John viii. 12. 
Deal honestly with your own hearts when you read 
these words. It will be an evidence that they have 

18* 



198 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



made some salutary impression on your mind, if you 
feel that they contain a depth of meaning which at 
present you cannot comprehend ; while you turn to 
them again and again, with intense desire, like a miner 
who has unexpectedly met with a rich vein in a gold 
mine, but hoiv rich, how deep he knows not. 



EEEDS 

Occur in Job xl. 21; Isa. ix. 14; xix. 15; lviii. 5; 
Matt. xi. 7; and several other places in the New Tes- 
tament. 

Reeds are a tribe of plants including several species 
greatly differing from each other in size ; they resem- 
ble the grasses in their mode of growth, and belong to 
the same natural family. They have slender, round, 




smooth stems, very solid, and hard externally, either 
hollow or filled with pith, and jointed or divided at 
certain distances by woody partitions. From these 
joints spring long, narrow leaves, and clusters of chaffy 
flowers. The plants called in the Bible calamus, 
cane, and flag, were different species of reeds. 



REEDS. 199 

The calamus is mentioned in Exod. xxx. 23; Cant, 
iv. 14 ; and Ezek. xxvii. 19. The same word is ren- 
dered " sweet cane" in Isa. xliii. 24 ; Jer. vi. 20. In 
the New Testament the corresponding Greek word is 
rendered " reed." 

The calamus aromaticus is a plant of India and 
Arabia. While growing, it scents the air with a fra- 
grant smell; and, when cut down, dried, and powder- 
ed, makes an ingredient in the richest perfumes. This 
plant was probably among the number of those that 
the queen of Sheba presented to Solomon, and it is 
still very much esteemed by the Arabians on account 
of its fragrance. Some have supposed the sugar-cane 
to be intended. Others consider it to have been one 
of the sedge family, a cyperus; several plants of that 
genus have odoriferous roots, and are used as per- 
fumes by the natives of the regions where they grow. 

One kind of reed was used for writing, and answers 
to the word rendered " pen" in our translation, as in 
3 John 13, " I had many things to write, but I will not 
with ink and pen write unto thee." 

Hasselquist mentions that there are two sorts of reed 
growing near the Nile. One of them has scarcely 
any branches, but numerous leaves, which are narrow, 
smooth, and channelled on the upper side; the plant 
is about eleven feet high. The Egyptians make ropes 
of the leaves. They lay them in water like hemp, and 
then make good and strong cables of them, which, with 
those made from the bark of the date tree, are almost 
the only cables used in the Nile. They make floats of 
this reed, which they use when they fish with nets. The 
other sort is of great consequence. It is a small reed 
about two or three feet high, full-branched, with short, 
sharp, lancet-like leaves; the roots, which are as thick 
as the stem, creep and mat themselves together to a 
considerable distance. This plant seems useless in 
ordinary life; but to this is the very soil of Egypt 
owing, for the matted roots have stopped the earth 
which floated in the waters, and formed out of the sea 
a country that is habitable. The former of these seems 
to be the celebrated papyrus, or " paper reed," Isa. 



200 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

xix. 7, and the same as " the bulrushes," of which the 
ark in which Moses was laid, and the " vessels" men- 
tioned in Isa. xviii. 2, were composed. When the 
outer skin, or bark, is taken off, there are several films, 
or inner pellicles, one within another. These, when 
separated from the stalk, were laid on a table, care- 
fully matched and flatted together, and moistened with 
the water of the Nile, which, dissolving the glutinous 
juices of the plant, caused them to adhere closely to- 
gether. They were afterwards pressed, and then dried 
in the sun ; and thus were prepared sheets, or leaves, 
for writing upon in characters marked by a coloured 
liquid passing through a hollow reed. This formed 
the most ancient books, and from the name of the 
plant is derived the word paper. 

The long stalk of a reed was used for a measuring 
rod. Compare Rev. xi. 1; xxi. 15, 16, with Ezek. xl. 
5. Also for a balance, Isa. xlvi. 6, probably after 
the manner of a steelyard, whose arm, or beam, was 
a graduated reed. 

A calamus, or reed, was placed in our Saviour's 
hands by the Roman soldiers, in mockery of his claim 
to the title of king. Matt, xxvii. 29. To express the 
gentleness of Christ, and his tenderness towards the 
afflicted and the penitent, it is said, "A bruised reed 
shall he not break." In allusion to the unbending 
firmness of John the Baptist, our Lord asked the 
people, " What went ye out for to see ? A reed 
shaken with the wind?" Matt. xi. 7; Luke vii. 24. 
The word (suph) translated (i weeds" in Jon. ii. 5, is 
rendered " flags" in Exod. ii. 3, 5, and some other 
passages, and seems to be a general term for aquatic- 
plants. What is now called the Red Sea, is in Hebrew 
called the Sea of Suph, owing, it is supposed by some, 
to the sea-weed with which it abounds. 



THORNS AND THISTLES. 

We shall consider these in the same article, because 
they are frequently mentioned together in the Bible. 



THORNS AND THISTLES. 201 

and because it is very difficult, if not impossible, to 
ascertain the particular plants intended. In our trans- 
lation, the same original word is sometimes variously 
rendered in different places, and in some cases, the 
same English word is put for different words in the 
original. In the curse denounced against the earth. 
Gen. hi. 18, its produce is threatened to be "thorns 
and thistles." The word here rendered " thorns" is 
so translated elsewhere, but we are uncertain whether 
it means a specific kind of thorn, or is a generic term 
for all plants of a thorny kind. In Gen. hi. 18, it 
seems to be general for all those obnoxious plants by 
which the labours of the husbandman are impeded. 
If the word means a particular plant, it may be the 
rest-harrow, {ononis spinosa,) a prickly weed, which 
grows promiscuously with the large thistles in uncul- 
tivated ground, and covers entire fields and plains in 
Egypt and Palestine. 

The bramble mentioned in Jotham's beautiful apo- 
logue of the trees choosing a king, Judges ix. 7-15, is 
supposed to have been a species of buckthorn which 
is common in Syria, {zizyphus vulgaris,) and was 
brought into Italy in the time of Augustus, and known 
by the name of the Jewish thorn. 

Thorns afford a number of allusions, from their 
sharpness, uselessness, and power of checking the 
growth of valuable plants. The Jews, for their wick- 
edness, are compared to briers and thorns. Ezek. ii. 6. 
"The best of them is a brier; the most upright is 
sharper than a thorn hedge." Mic. vii. 4. The bad 
consequences of indolence are represented by the 
thorns and thistles that overrun the field of the sloth- 
ful. Prov. xxiv. 31. Worldliness, and the desire of 
riches, are the thorns that choke the seed of the word. 
Matt. xiii. 7, 22. Men do not gather grapes of thorns, 
nor figs of thistles : an evil life is the natural result of 
an evil heart. Matt. vii. 16; Luke vi. 44. What 
prayer, then, can be more suitable for each of us than 
that of the psalmist, " Create in me a clean heart, 
God; and renew a right spirit within me ?" Psa. 
Ii. 10. But we cannot offer this prayer sincerely, or, 



202 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



in other words, really pray, unless we are also obey- 
ing the precept to " cleanse ourselves from all filttii- 
ness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the 
fear of God." 2 Cor. vii. 1. "Keep thy heart with all 
diligence ; for out of it are the issues of life." Prov. 
iv. 23. 



THE LILY. 

This beautiful flower is mentioned in the following 
passages: 1 Kings vii. 19, 22, 26; 2 Chron. iv. 5; 

Cant. ii. 2, 16; iv. 5; v. 13; 
vi. 23; vii. 2; Hos. xiv. 5; 
Matt. vi. 28; Luke xii. 2?! 
By " the lily of the valley/' 
in Cant. ii. 1, we are not to 
understand the flower gene- 
rally so called, but most pro- 
bably the yellow amaryllis, 
which resembles our yellow 
crocus, and overspreads the 
fields of Palestine in au- 
tumn. 

The lily is said to have 
been brought originally from 
Persia, whose chief city was 
called Shushan, (the Hebrew 
name for a lily,) and one of 
its provinces Susiana, from the number of these beau- 
tiful flowers which grew there spontaneously. It was 
introduced into England in 1596. 




a. Frittalaria Persica. b. Ornitho- 
galum Arabicum. c. Pancreatum 
Maritimum. 



THE ROSE. 

The rose (class Icosandria, order Polygynia, Linn.) 
has from the earliest times been celebrated, not only 
by the Greeks and Romans, but also by the orientals, 
who esteemed it above all flowers. The beauty and 
fragrance of this flower have, indeed, been the theme 
of poets in all ages ; and it is celebrated alike in the 



THE ROSE. 203 

odes of Anacreon and Horace, in the strains of Hafez, 
the Persian, and in the lyrics of modern writers. 
Many species are known ; of these, the damask rose, 
{rosa damascena) is supposed to have been originally 
brought from Damascus, and to be a native of Syria. 
Its perfume, even in our climate, is very rich, and the 
blossoms are very lovely. Another species, the musk 
rose, {rosa moschata) is indigenous in North Africa, 
and the warmer provinces of Spain, and, like the 
damask rose, is cultivated in our gardens. It is sup- 
posed to be the rose of Persia, in the branches of 
which the bulbul delights to sing. In that country it 
attains to a very great elevation. According to Sir 
R. Ker Porter, the rose tree rises fourteen feet high, 
and when laden with flowers, the scent of which is 
exquisite, presents a most attractive spectacle. 

It has, however, been questioned by many if the 
rose is intended by the Hebrew word chabatzeleth, 
Cant. ii. 1; Isa. xxxv. 1. Some regard it as the aspho- 
del, on no tangible grounds ; others consider it to be 
a cistus, white or red, which abounds in Judea. Mr. 
Kitto contends that the rose is the flower alluded to, 
and gives the rosa berberifolia, as the rose of Sharon. 
The Septuagint and Vulgate translate the original 
word, chabatzeleth, by av9o$ (anthos), and flos, a 
flower; and Sharon they do not give as a proper 
name, but as signifying a field ; but as the word cha- 
batzeleth stands in conjunction with the word sho- 
shanna, a definite name for some flower, a lily or 
amaryllis, we conceive that it must have reference to 
a particular flower also. If, then, in its general sense, 
it should mean a flower, applied particularly, it most 
probably means a rose ; as the Persian gul, and the 
Arabic ward, which mean a flower, generally — the 
rose, par excellence. From the earliest times, attar of 
roses has been prepared in the east as a costly per- 
fume, and chaplets of roses have been used on festal 
occasions. In the apocryphal book of Wisdom, the 
sensualists are represented as saying, " Let us crown 
ourselves with rose-buds, before they are withered ;" 
and in another apocryphal book, Ecclesiasticus, the 



204 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

writer praises "the rose-plants of Jericho." That the 
rose was well known in Syria we cannot for a mo- 
ment doubt, nor that, in common with all the orient- 
als, its inhabitants held it in high estimation. 



CAMP HIRE. 

Cant. i. 14; iv. 13. This is supposed to be the plant 
called by the Arabians al-henna. In India there are 
two species, one with thorns, the other without, but 
the latter is the henna. In Upper and Lower Egypt, 
it flowers from May to August. It is one of the 
plants which are most grateful to the eye and the 
smell. The deep colour of its bark, the light green of 
its foliage, the softened mixture of white and yellow 
in its flowers, which hang in long clusters like the 
lilac, form a most pleasing combination. Women, in 
Egypt and the east, make use of this plant as a dye. 
The leaves are pulverised, and made into a paste with 
water; they bind this paste on the nails of their hands 
and feet, keeping it on all night. This gives them a 
deep yellow, which is greatly admired by eastern 
nations. The colour lasts for three or four weeks, 
before there is occasion to renew it. The custom is 
so ancient in Egypt, that Hasselquist says he has seen 
the nails of mummies dyed in this manner. 



BALSAM TREE. 

The balm, or balsam, of the Old Testament, is a resi- 
nous substance obtained from the balsam tree. This 
tree is an evergreen, growing to the height of about 
fourteen feet. The trunk is about eight or ten inches 
in diameter; the wood light and open, gummy, and 
outwardly of a reddish colour, incapable of receiving 
a polish, and covered with a smooth bark, like a 
young cherry tree; flattened at the top; having few 
leaves. The flowers are like those of the acacia, 
small and white, only that three hang upon three 
filaments, or stalks, where the acacia has but one. 



BALSAM TREE. 205 

Two of these flowers fall off, and leave a single fruit; 
the branches that bear these are the shoots of the pre- 
sent year, they are of a reddish colour, and tougher 
than the old wood. After the blossoms follow yellow 
fine-scented seeds, enclosed in a reddish black pulpy 
nut, very sweet, and containing a yellowish liquor, 
like honey. They are bitter, and a little tart ; of the 
same shape and size as the fruit of the turpentine 
tree ; thick in the middle, and pointed at the ends. 

There were three kinds of balsam extracted from 
this tree. The first was most highly esteemed, which 
dropped spontaneously, or by means of incision, and 
was sold for double its weight of silver. The second 
was obtained by pressure from the nuts; the third 
was produced by boiling the buds and twigs in water. 

In ancient times, Judea, and especially Gilead, was 
famed for its balsam. In the time of the patriarchs, 
Ishmaelitish merchants brought it, with other spices, 
from Gilead into Egypt. Gen. xxxvii. 25. It was, 
also, among the productions which the Jews traded 
in with Tyre. Ezek. xxvii. 17. In modern times, Mr. 
Bruce found it growing all along the coast of the Red 
Sea to Babelmandel. 



MYRRH. 

This name is given in the English translation to two 
perfectly distinct words. The myrrh, mentioned in 
Gen. xxxvii. 25, and xliii. 11, 
is believed, on good grounds, 
to be the gum called ledum, or 
ladanum. It is obtained from 
the plant called the cistus rose, 
— (or cistus creticus.) This 
shrub grows about two feet 
high; the leaves are smooth, 
and of a dark green above, 
and whitish on the under sur- 
face ; the flowers are of a reddish purple. The gum 
is collected before sunrise, by a particular instrument, 
from the leaves, or, in the greatest purity, from the 

19 




206 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

beards of the goats that browse upon this plant. If 
sprinkled on live coals, it gives out a very fragrant 
and reviving smell. 

The other kind of myrrh is mentioned in Exod. xxx. 
23; Esther ii. 12; Psa. xlv. 8; Prov. vh. 17; Cant, 
i. 13 ; hi. 6 ; iv. 6, 14; v. 1, 5, 13; also in Matt. ii. 
11; Mark xv. 23; John xix. 39. It is the product 
of the balsamomendron myrrha, a small, scrubby tree, 
found near Gison, in Arabia Felix. Both its wood 
and bark have a strong and remarkable odour. The 
resin is at first oily, and of a yellowish white, then of 
the consistence of butter, and gradually becomes of a 
gold colour, and at last reddish. 

Myrrh is mentioned among the articles brought by 
Nicodemus to embalm the body of the Saviour. Hero- 
dotus and others, also, mention this gum as among 
the principal ingredients for embalming the dead. 

The stacte, a word that occurs only once, in Exod. 
xxx. 34, is supposed to have been the myrrh that 
oozed spontaneously from the tree mentioned above, 
instead of being obtained by incision. 

The onycha mentioned in the same passage, was 
most probably an odoriferous gum, but of what kind 
is quite uncertain. The Arabic version renders it 
ladanum, which has been already described. 

GALBANUM. 

This word occurs only in Exod. xxx. 34. It is the 
name of a gum-resin which has been long known, but 
the plant from which it is procured is still undeter- 
mined. Two sorts are used in commerce ; the Afri- 
can galbanum, which is either in tears, or drops, being 
probably the spontaneous oozing from the plant, or 
in masses ; and the Persian, which, being soft .'and 
tenacious, is sent in skins or chests. 

FRANKINCENSE. 
Frankincense was the produce of a kind of balsam 
tree, and, therefore, nearly related to the balm of 



FRANKINCENSE. 207 

Gilead, as well as to the myrrh. What is now sold 
under the name of olibanum, has generally been 
reputed to be the same as the ancient frankincense ; 
but from what tree it was gathered botanists had no 
means of ascertaining. Very lately, however, a drug 
was brought to England from India, so exactly like 
the olibanum in every respect, that persons in the habit 
of selling the latter could not tell the difference. This 
afforded a very strong presumption that the drug 
from India and the olibanum were the productions of 
the same kind of tree. Now the tree from which the 
Indian drug was gathered is the Boswellia thnrifera, 
a native of the mountainous parts of India. It yields 
a most fragrant resin from incisions made in the bark. 
The Arabian olibanum is now seldom to be met with ; 
the East Indian is obtained from the tree just men- 
tioned, and is met with in two degrees of fineness. 
The odour is pleasantly balsamic, and increased by 
heat ; when inflamed, it burns with a clear, steady 
light, which is not easily put out, and diffuses a very 
agreeable smoke. It leaves behind it a black ash. It 
is principally employed to burn as incense by the 
Roman Catholics. 



SPICES. 

Gen. xxxvii. 25, spicery; Gen. xliii. 11, spices. The 
word thus rendered occurs no where else in the Bible. 
By some, (among whom is the ancient Greek transla- 
tor Aquila,) it is considered to mean storax, the resin 
of a tree of the same name, frequent in Syria, of a 
reddish colour, and a peculiarly pleasant fragrance ; 
others have supposed it to be the gum tragacanth. 
Two other words are also translated "spices" and 
"incense," and appear to be general terms for various 
productions of this class, which abound in eastern 
countries, and have formed, from very early times, an 
important branch of commerce. 

In the account of our Lord's burial given by the 
evangelist John, we are informed, that " Nicodemus 



208 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes,* about an 
hundred pound weight," and that " then took they the 
body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes, with the 
spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury." John 
xix. 39, 40. We are not to understand by this, that 
embalming in this manner was a general practice with 
the Jews. In the greater number of cases, the dead 
were laid in the grave without the use of aromatics ; 
but for persons in affluence, or who were distinguish- 
ed characters, spices were used in great abundance. 
Thus we are told, that on the death of Rabbi Gama- 
liel, the elder, eighty pounds of opobalsam were used.t 
It had been predicted of our Lord, (as Dr. Campbell 
remarks,) not only that he should be numbered with 
transgressors, not only that his grave should be ap- 
pointed with the wicked, but that he should be joined 
" with the rich in his death," a prediction most exactly 
fulfilled in the honour thus paid by Joseph and Nico- 
demus. These were circumstances which, before they 
happened,; it was very improbable should ever meet 
in the same person. 

Highly interesting as it is to notice this minute ful- 
filment of prophecy, let us not be satisfied with what 
may be little more than an intellectual gratification. 
May our hearts be more deeply impressed with the 
great end for which those stupendous events, (the 
death and resurrection of the Saviour,) were ordained 
to take place. And what was that end? Listen to 
the apostle: — 

a F0R TO THIS END CHRIST BOTH DIED, AND ROSE, 
AND REVIVED, THAT HE MIGHT BE LORD BOTH OF THE 
DEAD AND LIVING." Rom. xiv. 9. 

Reader! is Christ your Lord? and in what sense ? 
If, while you are " living," he be not your Lord to 

* This is the name of a tree, (the ligne-aloe, or agallochum,) which 
grows in India and the Moluccas, the wood of which is highly aro- 
matic. It is used by the orientals as a perfume, and was employed 
by the Egyptians for embalming. It must not be confounded with 
the herb which produces the aloes used in medicine. — Robinson's 
Greek and English Lexicon for the New Testament, p. 36, dxo». 

t At Herod's funeral, Josephus informs us, the procession was fol- 
lowed by five hundred of his domestics carrying spices. 



SPIKENARD. SAFFRON. CINNAMON. 



209 



save, when you are "dead," he will be your Lord to 
condemn. 

SPIKENARD. 

Cant. i. 12; iv. 13, 14. This is a species of valerian, 
a native of India, and found in great abundance on 
the Himalaya mountains. It was known to the Jews 
through the Persians and Ara- 
bians. Its name in Sanscrit is 
jatamansi. The " ointment of 
spikenard/' mentioned in Mark 
xiv. 3 ; John xii. 3, is the essen- 
tial oil of this plant. The classi- 
cal writers bear witness to its 
costliness; Horace, for instance, 
represents asmuch of it as could 
be contained in a small box of 
precious stone, as equivalent to 
a cask of wine. 




SAFFRON 

Occurs only in Cant. iv. 14. The crocus, or saffron, 
is a small plant with a bulbous root, and long, narrow, 
pointed leaves. The flowers are funnel-shaped, in 
six parts, of a blue or violet colour, with different 
shades ; some varieties are yellow. The pistil is 
divided at the top into three threads of a bright yellow 
colour; when dried and pressed into cakes, they form 
the substance formerly much used in medicine. 



CINNAMON. 

An -agreeable aromatic; the inward bark of the canel- 
la, a species of laurel. It is mentioned, Exod. xxx. 
23, among the materials in the composition of the holy 
anointing oil; and in Prov. vii. 17; Cant. iv. 14; and 
Rev. xviii. 13, among the richest perfumes. The cinna- 
mon of commerce is the inner bark of a tree of the same 
19* 



210 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

name, a native of various parts of India, but particular- 
ly of the island of Ceylon. The tree grows to the height 
of more than twenty feet. Besides the aromatic oil con- 
tained in its bark, its root yields camphor, its inner 
bark (or liber) oil of cinnamon, the leaves oil of cloves, 
and the fruit a peculiar ethereal oil. The finest cin- 
namon is said to be obtained from the middle-sized 
branches, that of the youngest shoots being of inferior 
quality, and that of the oldest branches of very little 
value. About five thousand bales of cinnamon are 
annually imported to England from Ceylon. 



CASSIA. 

Exod. xxx. 24 ; Psal. xiv. 8; Ezek. xxvii. 19. 

The cassia is a species of laurus, or bay-tree, and 
very closely resembles the cinnamon tree, which is a 
species of the same genus. The leaf is smooth, and 
of a shining green on the upper surface, with three 
well-marked nerves running lengthwise upon the un- 
der. In Mindanao, one of the Philippine islands, it 
grows to the height of forty or fifty feet, and has a 
straight stem, which is covered with an ash green 
bark. The bark is less fragrant than that of the cin- 
namon tree, and more mucilaginous, so that it is far 
less valuable as an article of commerce. The leaves, 
when gathered fresh, are grateful to the taste, and 
soothing to the stomach of the hungry traveller, who, 
in the absence of better fare, is glad to take a hint 
from his native guide. It is stated by Rheede, a very 
good authority, that the root, in Malabar, yields a 
kind of camphor, which we may easily believe, as the 
true camphor tree of China belongs to this genus. It 
is not unlikely that this camphor is the substance re- 
ferred to in Scripture, as the perfume yielded by the 
bark must have been far inferior in strength and choice- 
ness to that of the gum, or resin. The laurus or bay 
tree group, presents a beautiful variety of trees, not 
less characterized by the never-fading verdure of the 
foliage, or the curious structure of the flowery cluster, 



LIGN-ALOES. ALMUG, OR ALGUM. 211 

than by the agreeable odour and medicinal qualities of 
the bark and gummy secretions, in the Spice Islands, 
a member of this family, called the culilawan, is in 
high repute for its stomachic qualities. In Zamboan- 
ga, a city on the south side of Mindanao, the inhabit- 
ants are remarkable for their good health, which is 
ascribed by themselves to the sassafras, a member of 
the same family. This tree lets fall its leaves into a 
crystal stream, of which they all drink as the main 
part of their daily beverage, and deem that in this 
way they fortify themselves against disease. They 
are indebted perhaps more to their daily ablutions than 
to any healing property which these leaves may im- 
part, but it shows in what estimation the tree is held. 



LIGN-ALOES. 

Numb. xxiv. 6; Psal. xlv. 8; Prov. vii. 17; Cant. iv. 14. 

There is considerable uncertainty respecting the 
vegetable production referred to in these passages ; 
the original term is translated " lign," or "wood aloes," 
in the first, and simply " aloes," in the rest. It cannot 
mean, as we have already remarked, the aloes which 
is used for medical purposes; but, from the connexion, 
in the last three passages quoted, evidently must have 
been a fragrant aromatic. Supposing it to have been 
a foreign production, the aquilse lignum, or eagle- 
wood, of the East Indies, might be the substance in- 
tended, which has been employed from very early pe- 
riods, as incense, by the natives of India and China. 
In the latter country, the wood, after being reduced 
to a fine powder, is mixed with gum, and a thick coat- 
ing of it spread over a small slip of wood; it is then 
lighted, and gives out a delicate perfume. 

ALMUG, or ALGUM. * 

1 Kings x. 11, 12 ; 2 Chron. ii 8 ; ix. 10, 11. 

The almug tree was most probably a species of fir, or 
pine tree, whose length and straightness rendered it fit 



212 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

for pillars. We find it associated with the cone-bear- 
ing family. " Send me also," (was Solomon's request 
to Hiram, king of Tyre,) " cedar trees, fir-trees, and 
algum trees, out of Lebanon." 2 Chron. ii. 8. We 
see, then, that it grew in Lebanon ; but a much better 
kind was brought from Ophir, or some region in the 
east. The wood, we are told by Josephus, was used 
in the construction of harps and psalteries, which 
amounts almost to a proof that the algum tree was a 
kind of fir, since fir wood seems to have been uniform- 
ly employed in making stringed instruments. And it 
may be remarked, that a fir has been found in India, 
(pinus spectabilis,) which deserves the commendation 
bestowed by the sacred writer on the algum. This 
tree, which may be called the purple-coned pine of 
India, grows to the height of eighty or ninety feet; 
and is about three or four feet in its diameter. The 
cone is three feet and a half long, and one foot and a 
half thick. The leaves are about an inch long, of a 
beautiful bright green, with a white line running along 
their middle. The wood, in the texture of its grain, 
and in its fragrance, equals the Bermudian cedar, or 
that of which our black lead pencils are made. The 
odour, which is breathed from the tree while growing, 
greatly exceeds that of any other yet known. The 
silvery hue of its bark, the beautiful contrast of the 
leaves with the rich purple of the cones, glittering 
"with globules of transparent resin, produce in combi- 
nation, one of the most striking objects that can be 
imagined. There is also the pinus deodara, or sacred 
pine of India, which is very stately and beautiful, and 
yields a wood that is hard, sweet-scented, and delight- 
fully variegated with wavy rings. Temples, and other 
works of cost and durability, are made of it. 



EBONY. 

A hard black-coloured wood, a native of hot coun- 
tries, particularly India and Ethiopia. It admits a 
fine polish, and, when inlaid with ivory, forms a beau- 



SHITTIM, SITTIM, OR SITTAH. 213 

tiful contrast. In ancient times it was much used for 
ornamental furniture. The only place in which the 
word occurs in Scripture is Ezek. xxvii. 15, where it 
is mentioned as brought to Tyre by the men of Dedan. 
The true ebony, and which is considered of the best 
quality, is a native of Mauritius, Ceylon, and Mada- 
gascar. Another species is found on the Coromandel 
coast. As in other species, it is only the centre of 
large trees that is black and valuable. The outside 
wood is white and soft, and soon destroyed by insects. 
It bears a berry that is eaten by the natives. 



SHITTIM, SITTIM, or SITTAH. 

This is generally supposed to be a species of acacia, 
or mimosa. There are two sorts known in Egypt and 
Arabia. One is the acacia Jlrabica, from which the 




substance called gum Arabic is obtained, by making 
an incision in the bark of the tree; the sap runs out, 
and hardens in transparent lumps, similar to what is 
often seen on cherry trees in this country. The wood 



214 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

of the acacia is hard, smooth, and handsome, and does 
not easily rot; it was, therefore, very suitable for the 
purposes for which Moses employed the shittim wood. 
The ark of the tabernacle, the table of shew-bread, 
the altar of burnt-offering, the altar of incense, the 
staves, or poles, with which these were carried, the 
pillars, and the boards, and bars, which formed the 
frame of the tabernacle, were all made of this wood; 
see Exod. xxv. 5. 10, 13, 23, 28; xxvi. 15, 26, 32; 
xxvii. 1, 6; xxx. 1, 5; xxxv. 7, 24; xxxvi.; xxxvii.; 
xxxviii.; Deut. x. 3. 

Its flowers are generally of a bright yellow; its 
leaves of the pinnate, or winged kind ; its fruit is con- 
tained in pods ; the branches are armed with thorns. 

In Isa. xli. 19, the shittah tree is mentioned, with 
others of great usefulness and beauty, to denote, figu- 
ratively, the happy effects of a general spread of the 
gospel 



FOREST TREES. 



TEREBINTH, or TURPENTINE. 

The word translated " plain" in Gen. xii. 6, and in 
some other passages, is generally supposed to mean a 
large tree, most probably of the kind called terebinth, 
or turpentine tree. It is an evergreen of moderate 
size, says Mariti; but having the top and branches 
large in proportion to the body. The leaves resemble 
those of the olive, but are of a green colour, inter- 
mixed with red and purple. The twigs that bear them 
always terminate in a single leaf; the flowers are like 
those of the vine. The fruit is of the size of juniper 
berries, hanging in clusters, and each containing a 
single seed, of the size of a grape stone. They are 
of a ruddy purple, and remarkably juicy. The wood 
is hard and fibrous ; a resin or gum distils from the 
trunk. 

The terebinth under which Abraham entertained 
three angels, Gen. xviii. 1 — 4, is very famous in anti- 
quity. Josephus says, that six furlongs from Hebron, 
they showed a very large terebinth, which the inhabit- 
ants of the country thought to be as old as the world 
itself. Eusebius states, that, in his time, the terebinth 
of Abraham was still to be seen. Jerome says that 
this terebinth was two miles from Hebron. Sozomen, 
the ecclesiastical historian, says that it existed in the 
time of Constantine,at the distance of six miles from He- 
bron. Such superstitious reverence was paid to it, both 
by Jews and Christians, that the emperor Constantine 
wrote to Eusebius, the bishop of Cesarea, to check the 
idolatry, and to destroy an altar that had been erected 
before the tree, while, at the same time, he gave orders 



216 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

for building a church on the spot. Sanatus states, 
that the trunk of the tree remained as late as the year 
1 300, and that pieces of it were carried away as relics 
by the pilgrims to the Holy Land. 

When Dr. Robinson visited Hebron, he found no 
large terebinth tree in its immediate vicinity, but a 
venerable oak, which had been described by former 
writers as a terebinth. On approaching, however, 
the mountains of Judah, he frequently noticed the 
pistacea terebinthus, with other low trees, scattered 
over the limestone hills, Hasselquist also says, " Near 
Jerusalem, grow different sorts of plants on these hills, 
especially the carob tree, the myrtle, and the terebinth, 
or turpentine tree." 



OAK. 

Various species of oak are found in Palestine. The 
oak forests of Bashan are especially celebrated, Isa. ii. 
1 3 ; Zech. xi. 2 ; of these the Tyrians made their oars, 
Ezek. xxvii. 6. Bishop Lowth thinks that neither the 
oak nor the terebinth will answer to Isa. i. 29, 30, 
from the circumstance of their being deciduous, for 
the prophet's design seems to require an evergreen; 
" otherwise the casting of its leaves would be nothing 
out of the common established course of nature, and 
no proper image of extreme distress and total deser- 
tion, parallel to that of a garden without water, that 
is wholly burned up and destroyed." Upon the whole, 
he chooses to make it the quercus ilex, commonly 
called the evergreen oak. Its leaves vary considerably 
in size and shape, according to the locality in which 
it grows; they remain on the tree till they are thrust 
off by the young leaves in the spring. Its acorns are 
bitter and unfit for food. 

The following is the interesting description given by 
Dr. Robinson of the oak which he saw growing, in 
1838, in the vicinity of Hebron: — "The venerable 
oak, (Siudian,) to which we now came, is a splendid 
tree ; we hardly saw another like it in all Palestine, 



THE OAK. 



217 



certainly not. on this side of the plain of Esdraelon. 
Indeed, large trees are very rare in this quarter of the 
country. The trunk of this tree measures twenty- 
two feet and a half around the lower part. It sepa- 




THE OAK OF PALESTINE.— Quercus JEg'dojps. 

rates almost immediately into three large boughs, or 
trunks; and one of these, higher up, into two. The 
branches extend from the trunk, in one direction, forty- 
nine feet ; their whole diameter, in the same direction, 
being eighty-nine feet; and in the other, at right an- 
gles, eighty-three feet and a half. The tree is in a 
thriving state, and the trunk sound. It stands alone 
in the midst of the field; the ground beneath it is 
covered with grass, and clean ; there is a well with 
water near by; so that a more beautiful spot for re- 
creation could hardly be found. I am not sure that 
this is the tree which Sir John Mandeville saw near 
Hebron, of which he relates, [the absurd legend,] 

20 



218 SCRIPTUKE NATURAL HISTORY. 

that it was green in Abraham's day, but dried up at 
the time of our Saviour's crucifixion, like all the other 
trees then in the world. It seems to be mentioned by 
Belon, in the sixteenth century, as a terebinth, and is 
described as such by writers in the following century. 
But this is not a terebinth; nor is there any large tree 
of that species in the vicinity of Hebron. Least of 
all can this be the tree of Abraham, or its successor; 
for his terebinth probably stood more towards Jeru- 
salem, and had already disappeared in the days of 
Jerome." — Biblical Researches, vol. ii. p. 443. 



CAROB. 

The carob tree is never mentioned in the Old Testa- 
ment ; but in the parable of the prodigal son, record- 
ed by the evangelist, Luke xv. 16, we read, "He 
would fain have filled his belly with the husks that 
the swine did eat." The word here translated "husks," 
appears to signify something more than the mere 
shell or pod of a vegetable production, and is generally 
understood to mean the fruit of the carob tree, one of 
the numerous tribe of leguminous plants, found wild 
in all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. 
The pods were anciently given for food to swine, and 
are thus used for horses, in the present day, by the 
Spaniards. It is sent from Palestine to Alexandria in 
shiploads, and as far as Constantinople, where it is 
sold in all the shops.* The pulp resembles manna in 
taste and consistence, and is sometimes used as sugar, 
to preserve other substances. Some of the fathers 
assert that the " locusts" of John the Baptist were a 
vegetable substance, and that the wild honey was the 
saccharine matter of this pod. Hence the German 



* "The modern Greeks call this fruit by the same name as that 
used by the evangelist, (*e§aT/*,) and sell it in the markets. They are 
given to swine, but not rejected as food, even by man." — Rev. J. Hart- 
ley's Researches in Greece and the Levant, p. 241. 



TAMARISK. 219 

name of the tree, der Johannisbrodbaum, John's 
bread tree.* 



TAMARISK. 

There is good reason for believing that the word 
translated " grove," in Gen. xxi. 33, and " tree," in 
1 Sam. xxii. 6, and xxxi. 13, means a particular kind 
of tree, the tamarisk. It grows wild in tbfe desert, 
but is frequently cultivated for the sake of the gum 
that exudes from it. There is a species which grows 
in Germany, on the banks of the Rhine : its pale green 
leaves, growing alternately, and its numerous purplish 
red flowers, make a very pleasing sight. The eastern 
species, which grows in the deserts of Arabia and Pa- 
lestine, is very much like it, but is a tree, instead of a 
shrub, and grows to the height of twenty feet. From 
this tree that sweetish secretion called manna is ob- 
tained, which is so relished by the Arabians, and pre- 
ferred to honey. The manna sold by our apotheca- 
ries as a medicine is the dried juice of a species of ash, 
a native of the south of Europe, which, though it has 
a sweetish taste, is also bitter, and leaves altogether a 
disagreeable impression. We hardly need say, that 
neither of these substances is to be confounded with 
that miraculous supply of food which was granted to 
the Israelites in the wilderness. In the valley of the 
Jordan it is of a brownish colour, and is gathered in 
May and June; that found in Arabia is yellow, and 

* Dr. Robinson, in the third volume of his Biblical Researches, has 
the following observations on this plant: — the ceratonia siliqua of 
Linnaeus'; English, carob; French, caroubier ; German, Johannisbrod- 
bautn ; common in Syria, Egypt, Greece, and all the southern parts 
of Europe, and sometimes growing very large- The tree produces 
slender pods, shaped like a horn, or sickle, containing a sweetish pulp, 
and several small, shining seeds. These pods are sometimes eight or 
ten inches long, and a finger brood. They are eaten with relish by 
the common people, and are used extensively by them as an article of 
sustenance. We had them dry on board of our boat, on the Nile, in 
January; steeped in water, they afforded a pleasant drink. These 
are the n^onix of Luke xv. 16, (English version, incorrectly, 'husks,') 
on which the swine were fed„ as is not uncommon at the present 
day." pp. 57, 58, 



220 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

the Persian kind is whitish. At the time of the manna 
harvest, the Arabians of the desert, men, women, and 
children, may be met with in companies among the 
tamarisk thickets about Mount Sinai, busily engaged 
in collecting the manna that drops from the trees. 
When they have finished their task, they pour boiling 
water over the manna, and take the scum off, to pu- 
rify it. 

WALNUT. 

I went down into the garden of nuts.— Cant vi. 11. 

The plant referred to in the Canticles was probably 
the walnut: the Persian and Arabic name for this 
tree is nearly the same as the word here used in the 
Hebrew. Josephus mentions that it is to be met with 
wild on the borders of the lake of Gennesaret. 

A different word is rendered " nuts," in Gen. xliii. 
11, which are supposed to have been the fruit of the 
pistachio terebinth tree, already noticed. It was in- 
troduced into Europe by the Roman governor, Lucius 
Vitellius, and has since spread over the shores of the 
Mediterranean. 



PLANE. 

The tree which is mentioned only in Gen. xxx. 37, 
and Ezek. xxxi. 8, is by the Septuagint and Jerome 
rendered " plane tree," and most modern interpreters 
render it the same. There are two species of this tree, 
the western, or American, and the eastern. 

The American plane has long been known in Eng- 
land, where it attains a considerable growth, though 
inferior to that of its native soil. Its trunk is smooth, 
of a light ash-colour, and has the property of throw- 
ing off its bark in scales, thus naturally cleansing itself 
from moss, and other foreign substances. Its leaf is 
large, smooth, and seldom injured by insects. 

The Asiatic, or eastern plane, is a tree nearly of the 
same kind, only its leaf is more palmated. It is per- 



PLANE. WILLOW. 221 

fectly well suited to the climate of England, and grows 
readily even in the valleys of Scotland. The tree rises 
to a great height in its native soil. The stem is co- 
vered with a smooth bark, which falls off annually. 
The bark of the young branches is of a dark brown, 
inclining to purple. The leaves are large and pal- 
mated, being cut into five divisions; their upper sides 
are of a deep green, and the under sides pale. This 
tree was much esteemed by the ancients; one is men- 
tioned by Pliny, in Lycia, the hollow in the trunk of 
which was capable of sheltering for the night Licinius 
Mucianus, the Roman consul, and eighteen persons of 
his company, being no less than seventy-five feet in 
circumference. 

WILLOW. 

Lev. xxiii. 40 ; Job xl. 22 ; Psa. cxxxvii. 2; Isa. xv. 7 ; xliv. 4. 

The weeping willow is a native of the Levant. It is 
of comparatively recent introduction into this country. 
It is said that Pope, the poet, having received a pre- 
sent of figs from Turkey, observed that one twig of 
the basket in which they were packed was putting 
out a shoot. He immediately planted it in his gar- 
den at Twickenham, and it soon became a fine tree, 
the parent stock of all the weeping willows now in 
England. 

The following beautful lines, " On a weeping wil- 
low growing on the banks of the Thames," will be 
read with interest, as the production of the late Mar- 
quis Wellesley, written in his eightieth year : — 

THE WEEPING WDLLOW OE BABYLON. 

Dishevelled, mournful, beauteous type of grief, 
That seem'st in tears to bend o'ur Thames's tide, 

And still to rue the day, when Babel's chief, 
High on thy parent stream enthroned in pride : 

Beheld upon thy melancholy boughs 

The harps unstrung of Israel's captive band, 
When heart, and voice, and orisons, and vo\v=, 

Refused the haughty victor's stern command 

To move great Sion's festal lay sublime, 

To mingle heavenly strains of joy with tears, 
To sing the Lord's song in a stranger's clime, 

And chant the holy hymn to heathen ears. 

20* 



222 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



Down by Euphrates' side they sat and wept, 
In sorrow mute, but not to memory dead. 

O Sion ! voice and barp in stillness slept, 
But the pure mindful tear for thee was shed. 

To thee, beloved Sion ! vain were given 
Blessing and honour, wealth and power ; in vain 

The glorious present majesty of Heaven 
Irradiates thy chosen, holy fane. 

Fall'n from thy God, the heathen's barbarous hand 
Despoils thy temple, and thine altar stains; 

Reft of her children, mourns the parent land. 
And in her dwellings death-like silence reigns. 

Rise, sacred tree, on Thames's gorgeous shore, 
To warn the people, and to guard the throne ; 

Teach them their pure religion to adore, 

And foreign faiths, and rites, and pomp, disown. 




The box, buxus se?npervirens, which in our garden 
borders is so diminutive a shrub, becomes, in warmer 
climates, a handsome tree of considerable height. Its 
hardness, durability, and yet comparative lightness, 



BOX.— BAY. 223 

render it an invaluable wood for the turner, mathe- 
matical instrument maker, and especially for the wood 
engraver. The prophet Isaiah mentions the box-tree as 
one of the chief ornaments of Mount Lebanon. " The 
glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the 
pine tree, and the box together." Isa. lx. 13. And in 
depicting the future glorious state of the church, he 
says, " I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, 
and the box tree together." Isa. xli. 19. 

There are two species of this plant. One of these 
is the common box, which is found all over the south 
of Europe, and reaches even to the north of Persia. 
It varies considerably in size, and is found wild in 
France, from three to fifteen or twenty feet in height. 
Great quantities are imported into this country from 
Turkey. The leaves have sometimes been used for 
medicinal purposes, instead of Peruvian bark. 

The other kind of box, buxus balearica, is a native 
of the island of Majorca ; it is a handsome plant, with 
broader leaves, and of a more rapid growth, but not 
so hardy. 



BAY. 

It is mentioned only in Psal. xxxvii. 35, 36, " I have 
seen the wicked in great power, and spreading him- 
self like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and 
lo, he was not : yea, I sought him, but he could not 
be found." 

The laurel, or sweet Day, is a native of the north of 
Africa, and the south of Europe and Asia. It attains 
the height of twenty or thirty feet. Its leaves are 
lanceolate and evergreen, and possess an aromatic fra- 
grance. The fruit is small, of a dark purple colour, 
and rather juicy. 

The bay tree, or true laurel, from which wreaths 
were made among some ancient nations for their vic- 
torious generals, is entirely different from the bush 
often called laurel among us. 



224 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

MYRTLE. 

-W-h. viii. 15: Isa. xli. 19; lv. 13; Zech. i. 5—11. 

The myrtle tree has a shrubby, firm, upright stem, 
branching thickly into a bushy head about eight or 
ten feet high, though in warmer climates it is often 
double that height. The leaves are very numerous 
and closely set, of a pointed oval shape, small, smooth, 
shining, and evergreen ; the flowers consist of five 
petals, white in the common species, and in others 
with a crimson tint. The fruit is a small oval berry. 
The transparent dots or oil-cysts on the leaves are a 
characteristic of the myrtle family. A species of this 
tree affords the pimento or allspice of commerce. In 
the south of Europe, and in Judea, the landscape is 
highly adorned with groves of myrtles remarkable for 
the rich green of their leaves, the profusion of beauti- 
ful flowers, and their agreeable perfume. The myrtle 
is mentioned in Neh. viii., among the trees whose 
branches were gathered for celebrating the feast of 
tabernacles on the return of the Jews from their cap- 
tivity in Babylon. 

CYPRES S. 

The cypress is an evergreen, cone-bearing tree, of a 
beautiful upright form : it is not more than twenty or 
thirty feet high, but attains to a great age. Its yel- 
lowish red and fragrant wood is one of the most en- 
during, and is not liable to rot, or to be eaten by in- 
sects. For these qualities it was made use of by the 
ancient heathens in constructing the statues of their 
gods. The gates of St. Peter's church at Rome, which 
had lasted from the time of Constantine, A. D. 306 — 
337. to that of Pope Eugene the fourth, A. D. 1431, 
that is to say, eleven hundred years, were of cypress, 
and had in that time suffered no decay. 

The " gopher wood," or rather tree, of which Xoah 
built the ark, is with some probability supposed to 
have been the cypress. 



CYPRESS. PINE. 



225 



III Isa. xliv. 14, a tree is mentioned, which in the 
English version is called a cypress, but, as the word 




occurs nowhere else, its precise meaning must be left 
undetermined. 



PINE. 

The pines form a large family of plants belonging 
chiefly to the cold and temperate climates. They are 
most of them evergreen ; the leaves are long, slender, 
needle-shaped, and grow in pairs, threes, fours, or 
fives, with a. membranous sheath at their base. The 
wood of some kinds is useful for timber, and in most 
of them abounds an oily and resinous substance, known 
by different names, according to the places or the dif- 
ferent trees from which it comes. Burgundy pitch, 
common frankincense, Canada balsam, Venetian and 
other turpentines, are obtained from various sorts of 



226 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

pines. Common turpentine flows from the pine by 
incisions. From this the oil is got by distillation, and 
what remains is resin, or rosin. Tar is obtained by 
burning the wood in a sort of oven or kiln, and flows 
into a hole beneath; this, by long boiling, becomes 
pitch. The pine is mentioned in our translation three 
times. Neh. viii. 15: Isa. xli. 19; lx. 13. 



FIR. 

The fir constitutes a genus of coniferous trees, which 
was formerly classed with the pine, but modern bota- 
nists have distinguished it. Its species form four very 
natural tribes, of the first of which the silver fir may 
be taken as the representative ; of the second, the Nor- 
way spruce ; of the third, the larch ; and of the fourth, 
the cedar of Lebanon. 

In 2 Sam. vi. 5, it is mentioned that David, and all 
the house of Israel, " played on all manner of in- 
struments made of fir wood ;" and Dr. Burney ob- 
serves, " This species of wood, so soft in its nature 
and sonorous in its effects, seems to have been prefer- 
red by the ancients, as well as moderns, to every other 
kind, for the construction of musical instruments, par- 
ticularly the belly of them, on which their tone chiefly 
depends. Those of the harp, late, guitar, harpsichord, 
and violin, in present use, are constantly made of this 
wood." 

The doors, rafters, and part of the interior finishing 
of the temple were of this wood. 1 Kings v. 10; vi. 
15, 34; ix. 11; 2 Chron. ii. 8 ; hi. 5. It was also used 
in other costly edifices, Sol. Song. i. 17; in building 
ships, Ezek. xxvii. 5 ; for making spears and other 
warlike weapons, which are meant by the fir trees be- 
ing shaken, in Nahum ii. 3. Kings are sometimes re- 
presented under the image of firs, cedars, and other 
majestic trees, Isa. xiv. 8. 

The word translated "ash" in Isa. xliv. 14, is ren- 
dered in the Septuagint a "larch." It is a species of 
fir, and a very fast growing tree, and therefore very 



FIR. CEDAR. 227 

suitable for one who wished to have a god made out 
of a tree planted by himself. It has been remarked, 
that " whilst the red wood or heart wood is not formed 
at all in the other resinous trees till they have lived 
for a good many years; the larch, on the other hand, 
begins to make it soon after it is planted ; and, whilst 
you may fell a Scotch fir of thirty years old, and find 
no red wood in it, you can hardly cut down a young 
larch large enough to be a walking stick, without 
finding just such a proportion of red wood, compared 
to its diameter, as you will find in the largest larch 
in the forest. Experiments also have shown, that, 
compared with other timber, it is "a tree that will 
not rot/' Isa. xl. 20. Oak posts have decayed, and 
been twice renewed, in the course of a very few years, 
whilst those of larch, that were exposed to exactly 
the same alternations of being wet and dry, remained 
unchanged. The larch also shares with the oak an- 
other property — the tanning powers of its bark. 



CEDAR. 

Mount Lebanon, and the range of Taurus, are the 
native seats of this magnificent tree. It is called by 
Isaiah "the glory of Lebanon," lx. 13. Informer 
times it must have flourished on that mountain in great 
abundance. It has been doubted whether the cedars 
at present found there are of the same kind with those 
so often mentioned as employed in the erection of So- 
lomon's palace, and the temple, as their timber pos- 
sesses little fragrance, and is in other respects of infe- 
rior quality. The accounts of travellers, for a very 
long period, have represented the cedars of Lebanon 
as gradually diminishing in number. But this seems 
to be true only of the older trees, of which Dr. Rich- 
ardson, in 1818, reported only seven to be remaining. 
" The celebrated cedar grove of Lebanon," says Dr. 
Robinson, " is at least two days' journey from Beirut, 
near the northern, and perhaps highest summit of the 
mountain. It has been often and sufficiently described 



228 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



by travellers for the last three centuries; but they all 
differ as to the Dumber of the oldest trees, inasmuch 
as in counting, some have included more, and some 
less of the younger ones. At present the number of 
trees appears to be on the increase, and amounts in all 
to several hundred. This grove was long held to be 




Cedar tree, whose top is lost in the thick branches. 

the only remnant of the ancient cedars of Lebanon. 
But Seetzen, in 1805, discovered two other groves of 
greater extent; and the American Missionaries, in 
travelling through the mountains, have also found 
many cedars in other parts. The distinguished Natu- 
ralist, Professor Ehrenberg, spent a considerable time 
on Lebanon ; and informs me, that he found the 
cedar growing abundantly on those parts of the moun- 
tain lying north of the road between Ba'albek and 
Tripolis. The trees are of all sizes, old and young; 
but none so ancient and venerable as those usually 
visited. — Biblical Researches, iii 440. 



CEDAR. 229 

The wood is bitter to the taste, which preserves it 
from insects: it is so durable, that some beams have 
been known to last more than two thousand years. 

We are informed, that cedars were used in the erec- 
tion of the second temple. Ezra iii. 7. The masts of 
the Tyrian ships, and their chests of merchandize, were 
made of it. Ezek. xxvii. 5, 24. Cedar wood was also 
employed in the cleansing of lepers, and in the waters 
of purification. Lev. xiv. 4; Numb. xix. 6. 

The cedar of Lebanon is often introduced figura- 
tively by the prophets, and in the Psalms. But the 
fullest description of this tree is in Ezek. xxxi. 3 — 9. 
" Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, with 
fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of 
an high stature; and his top was among the thick 
boughs. His boughs were multiplied, and his branches 
became long. The fir trees were not like his boughs, 
and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor 
any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in 
his beauty." 

" In this description two of the principal character- 
istics of the cedar are marked. The first is the mul- 
tiplicity and length of his branches. Few trees divide 
so many fair branches from the main stem, or spread 
over so large a compass of the ground. 

" The second characteristic is what Ezekiel calls, 
with great beauty and aptness, his 'shadowing shroud.' 
No tree in the forest is more remarkable than the ce- 
dar for its closely woven, leafy canopy. Ezekiel's 
cedar is marked as a tree of full and perfect growth, 
from the circumstance of its top being among the 
boughs. Almost every young tree, and particularly 
every young cedar, has what is called a leading branch 
or two, which continue to spring above the rest till 
the tree has attained its full size; then the tree becomes 
in the language of the nursery-man, clump-headed; but 
in the language of eastern sublimity, its < top is among 
the thick boughs/ that is, no distinction of any spiry 
head, or leading branch, appears; the head and the 
branches are all mixed together. This is generally, 

21 



230 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

in all trees, the state in which they are most perfect 
and most beautiful. 

" But, though Ezekiel has given us this accurate de- 
scription of the cedar, he has left its strength, which 
is its chief characteristic, untouched. But the reason 
is evident. The cedar is here introduced as an em- 
blem of Assyria, which, though vast, and wide-spread- 
ing, and come to full maturity, was, in fact, on the eve 
of destruction. Strength, therefore, was the last idea 
which the prophet wished to suggest. Strength is a 
relative term. The Assyrian was strong, compared 
with the powers on earth; but weak, compared with 
the arm of Providence, which brought him to destruc- 
tion. So his type, the cedar, was stronger than any 
of the trees of the forest ; but weak, in comparison 
with the axe which cut him off, and left hirn, as the 
prophet expresses the vastness of his ruin, spread upon 
the mountains and in the valleys, while the nations 
shook at the sound of his fall. 

" Such is the grandeur and form of the cedar of 
Lebanon. Its mantling foliage, or ' shadowing shroud,' 
as Ezekiel calls it, is its greatest beauty; which arises 
from the horizontal growth of its branches, forming a 
kind of sweeping irregular penthouse. And when to 
the idea of beauty that of strength is added, by the 
pyramidal form of the stem, and the robustness of the 
limbs, the tree is complete, in all its majesty and beau- 
ty." — The Rev. W. Gilpin's Remarks on Forest 
Scenery, vol. i. pp. 161, 162. 

Several specimens of the cedar have attained con- 
siderable size in England. One, brought direct from 
Lebanon, and planted at Enfield, about the middle of 
the seventeenth century, had a girth of fourteen feet 
in 1689. After eight feet of the top had been blown 
down by the hurricane, in 1703, it was still forty feet 
high. In 1821, it was seventeen feet in girth, at one 
foot from the ground, sixty-four feet in height, and 
contained five hundred and forty-eight cubic feet of 
timber, exclusive of the branches, which stretched 
eighty-seven feet horizontally. At Whitton, in Mid- 



CEDAR. 231 

dlesex, a cedar was blown down, in 1779, which had 
grown to the height of seventy feet, and the branches 
covered an area of one hundred feet in diameter. 

" Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts 
thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering." Isa. xl. 16. 
Here Jehovah himself declares the utter insufficiency 
of the most costly offering to atone for sin. But Jesus 
Christ has made an all-sufficient sacrifice, and offers 
pardon and eternal life to all that repent and believe 
in him. 



FKUIT TREES. 



VINE. 



The climate and structure of Palestine were peculiarly 
adapted for the cultivation of the vine. The hills and 
rising grounds famished innumerable natural terraces, 
fitted to bring its fruit to the highest perfection. In 
the Scriptures, the vine is frequently mentioned as one 
of the principal productions of the Holy Land. Deut. 
vi. 11; viii. 8; Numb. xvi. 14; Joshua xxiv. 13. Vines 
and fig trees are spoken of together in Jer. v. 17; Hos. 
ii. 12; vineyards are joined with oliveyards in Joshua 
xxiv. 13; 1 Sam. viii. 14; 2 Kings v. 26-, we find 
frequent allusion to the vine in the promises and de- 
nunciations of the prophets. Isa. vh. 23 ; lxi. 5; Jer. v. 
17; Hos. ii. 12; Zech. viii. 12; Mai. hi. 11. A pro- 
verbial expression for a state of settled peace and pros- 
perity was, that " every man dwelt' 7 (or sat) " safely 
under his vine and under his fig tree." 1 Kings iv. 25 ; 
Micah iv. 4; Zech. iii. 10. Though the vine was cul- 
tivated throughout Palestine, particular spots are men- 
tioned in which it especially flourished, such as the 
mountains of Engedi, Cant. i. 14; the district of He- 
bron, where was the brook, or rather vale, (see mar- 
ginal reference in the English version,) of Eshcol, 
(which means " a cluster of grapes.") Numb. xiii. 24. 
At the present time, this region abounds with vine- 
yards, and the grapes are the finest in Palestine.* 
Other places were, the environs of Shechem, Judges 
ix. 27; Mount Carmel, 2 Chron. xxvi. 10; Jezreel, 

* Robinson's Biblical Researches, vol. i. p. 314. 



VINE. 



233 



1 Kings xxi. 1 ; Lebanon, Hos. xiv. 7 ; the country- 
bey ond Jordan, Sibmah, belonging to the Moabites, 
Isa. xvi. 8 : "0 vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee 
with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over 
the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoil- 
er is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vin- 
tage." Jer. xlviii. 32. Some towns took their name 
from their vicinity to vineyards, such as Beth-hacce- 
rem, (the house of the vine,) Jer. vi. 1 ; Neh. hi. 14 ; 
and Abel-cheramim, (translated in the English version 
"the plain of the vineyards/') Judges xi. 33; which 
even in the time of Eusebius was noted for its vines. 
Vineyards were situated most generally on hills, Isa. 
v. 1: " Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains 
of Samaria," Jer. xxxi. 5; Amos ix. 13; though some- 
times they were on plains. To protect them from wild 
beasts, they were surrounded with a fence or hedge, 
Isa. v. 5; Matt. xxi. 33; sometimes with stone walls. 
Numb. xxii. 24. It is said of "the vineyard of the 
man void of understanding," Prov. xxiv. 30, 31, "The 
stone wall thereof was broken down." Sometimes 
the vineyard was protected both by a hedge and a 
stone fence, Isa. v. 5; and small watch towers were 
built, in which the vinedressers or the owners lived. 
Isa. i. 8; v. 2; Matt. xxi. 33. And even now, "each 
vineyard has a small house or tower of stone, which 
serves for a keeper's lodge ; and during the vintage 
we were told," says Dr. Robinson, " that the inhabit- 
ants of Hebron go out and dwell in these houses, and 
the town is almost deserted." — Biblical Researches , 
i. 314; ii. 442. Yet the Jews were enjoined to permit 
persons passing through these vineyards to eat of the 
fruit, though not to carry it away. Deut. xxiii. 24. 
The vines of Palestine were distinguished formerly, as 
at the present time, by their height and straightness. 
Schulz, in 1754, saw in the south of Lebanon, a vine 
thirty feet high, its trunk one foot and a half in dia- 
meter, and its branches covered a shed fifty feet broad 
and as many in length. They generally bore red or 
deep purple grapes, and often in very large clusters ; 
modern travellers mention having seen some that 

21* 



234 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

weighed twelve pounds, and with berries the size of 
small plums. The most noted kind was the vine of 
Sorek, Gen. xlix. 11; Isa. v. 2; Jer. ii. 21; the fruit is 
said to have been small, but of extraordinary sweet- 
ness; they are still grown in Syria and Arabia, and 
are known by the same name, or one very similar; in 
some parts they are called serki. It is not certain in 
what manner the Israelites cultivated the vine; whe- 
ther they allowed it to trail on the ground, or trained 
it to upright supports. The present mode of culture 
is thus described by Dr. Robinson. " They are planted 
singly in rows, eight or ten feet apart in each direction. 
The stock is suffered to grow up large, to the height 
of six or eight feet, and is then fastened in a sloping 
position to a strong stake, and the shoots are suffered 
to grow and extend from one plant to another, form- 
ing a line of festoons. Sometimes two rows are made 
to slant towards each other, and thus form by their 
shoots a sort of arch. These shoots are pruned away 
in autumn." — Biblical Researches, ii. 442. The vin- 
tage in Palestine took place in September and Octo- 
ber, and, as in all vine countries, was a season of fes- 
tivity, Judges ix. 27; Isa. xvi. 10; Jer. xxv. 30; the 
grapes were gathered amidst singing and shouting, 
and brought in baskets to the winepress. Jer. vi. 9. 
The expressed juice of the grapes, part of which was 
offered among the first-fruits, Dent, xviii. 4; Neh. x. 
37, was put into skins, or leathern bottles, Job xxxii. 
19; Matt. ix. 17; Mark ii. 22; and also into large 
earthen jars, (which are at present common through- 
out the east,) while it underwent fermentation; part 
was also made into a thick syrup. Dr. Robinson men- 
tions that at Hebron " the finest grapes are dried as 
raisins ; and the rest being trodden and pressed, the 
juice is boiled down to a syrup, which, under the name 
of dibs, (the Hebrew word d y bash, which signifies 
" honey," and also " syrup of grapes,") is much used 
by all classes, wherever vineyards are found, as a con- 
diment with their food. It resembles thin molasses, 
but is more pleasant to the taste." — JBibl. Researches, 
ii. 442. Three pounds of grapes yield one pound of 



vine. 235 

dibs. Three hundred camel loads of dibs* it is said, 
were carried annually from Hebron to Egypt. The 
fermented wine, kept in jars or pitchers, was often 
poured from one vessel to another, in order to improve 
it. This practice is alluded to in Jer. xlviii. 11. 

The prescriptions of the Mosaic law relative to the 
cultivation of the vine, were: — 1. It was subject to the 
law of the sabbatic year, Exod. xxiii. 11; Lev. xxv. 
3. 2. The vineyards were not to be sown with the 
seeds of any other plant. Deut. xxii. 9. 3. At the 
vintage, a gleaning was to be left " for the stranger, 
for the fatherless, and for the widow." Lev. xix. 10; 
Deut. xxiv. 21. 4. Whoever had planted a vineyard, 
but had not gathered its fruit, was exempt from mili- 
tary service. 

Whether the Hebrews drank wine mixed with wa- 
ter, like the Greeks and Romans, is uncertain. The 
expression in Isa. i. 22, refers to the adulteration of 
wine. The orientals of the present day do not mix 
water with wine, but drink it separately. But the 
ancient Israelites, (as is now practised in the east.) 
made their wine stronger by the addition of spices, 
such as myrrh and opium, Isa. v. 22; Psal. lxxv. 8; 
Cant. viii. 2. Drunkenness was one of the crimes that 
marked the degenerate state of the Jewish nation, as 
may be inferred from the denunciations of the prophets, 
Isa. v. 22; xix. 14; xxviii. 1; Hosea vii. 5; Jer. xxiii. 
9. It is mentioned as one of the vices of the rebel- 
lious son. Deut. xxi. 20. 

With the vintage were connected the laborious, and 
yet joyful operations of the wine-press, which was 
commonly placed, or rather built, in the vineyard. It 
was either dog in the ground, and lined with masonry, 
or built of stone upon the ground, six or eight feet in 
length and breadth, and about four feet in depth ; at 
the bottom the juice flowed out through a grated open- 
ing into another vessel. The grapes were thrown in, 
covered with some boards, and then five or six men 
trod or jumped upon them. The use of that powerful 
mechanical instrument, the screw, was, at that period, 
unknown. We learn, from Jer. xxv. 30, " He shall 



236 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

give a shout, as they that tread the grapes," and xlviii. 
33, " None shall tread with shouting/' that they en- 
livened their toil with joyful sounds, probably keeping 
time with their feet. 

The must, or new wine, was put into goatskins, 
either with or without the hair, smeared on the inside 
with pitch, or soaked in pure oil. While the wine 
was fermenting, the skins could not be tied up, other- 
wise the new bottles, and much more the old ones, 
would burst. Matt. ix. 17. The jars they buried in the 
earth, but the bottles were hung up in store-rooms, or 
cellars. " Over the increase of the vineyards for the 
wine-cellars, was Zabdi the Shiphmite." 1 Chron. 
xxvii. 27. 

The vinegar mentioned both in the Old and New 
Testament, seems to have been a kind of weak, infe- 
rior wine, which formed (as it does now in the south 
of Europe) the ordinary beverage of the common 
people. 

The Jewish people are often compared to a vine or 
a vineyard, as in Isa. v. 1 — 7 ; Psal. lxxx. 8 — 15; Jer. 
ii. 20, 21; Ezek. xvii. 5 — 10; Hos. x. 1. On various 
occasions, allusions to the vine are introduced with ex- 
quisite beauty and propriety. In the New Testament, 
our Lord frequently employs it in his parables, and 
especially in that part of his farewell discourse contain- 
ed in John xv., where he makes use of it to illustrate 
the spiritual union between himself and his disciples. 
" I am the vine," said he, " ye are the branches." 
" The branches," Mr. Jay remarks, "are of the very 
same kind of wood as the vine, and the very same 
sap pervades them both. And they that are joined to 
the Lord are of one spirit. The same mind is in them 
which was also in Christ Jesus. But the branch does 
not bear the tree, but the tree the branch. Whatever 
likeness there may be, in all things he has the pre- 
eminence. He is our life and strength. Let me accus- 
tom myself," he adds, " to derive spiritual reflections 
from all the material objects around me. A taste for 
natural scenery is pleasing and good in itself. But let 
me not approach it as a creature, only to enjoy, or as 



OLIVE. 



237 



a philosopher, only to admire, but as a Christian, also 
to improve. Let sense be the handmaid of faith. Let 
that which is seen and temporal, raise me to that which 
is unseen and eternal/' — Jay's Morning Exercises. 



OLIVE. 




This tree is one of the principal productions of Pales- 
tine, and, as such, is often mentioned in the Scriptures, 
ill connexion with wheat, vines, and fig trees, Exod. 
xxiii. 11; Deut. vi. 11; viii. 8; xxviii. 40; Josh. xxiv. 
13 ; Judges xv. 5; 2 Kings v. 26 ; xviii. 32 ; Mic. vi. 
15. The olive gardens were situated chiefly on the 



238 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

hills, as the tree prefers a dry and sandy soil. Its 
trunk is knotty ; its bark is smooth, and of an ash co- 
lour ; its wood is solid and yellow; the leaves are ob- 
long, thick and stiff, almost without a stalk, of a dark 
green colour on the upper side, whitish underneath, 
and retaining their verdure through the year, Psal. 
lii. S; cxxviii. 3; Jer. xi. 16. In the month of June, it 
puts forth white flowers, growing in bunches, each of 
one piece, (monopetalous,) widening towards the top, 
and dividing into four parts. These are followed by 
the berries, which sometimes grow to the size of a 
pigeon's egg, and are first green, then pale, and at last 
turn to a dark purple, or black colour ; they enclose a 
hard stone, filled with oblong seeds. They ripen in 
September. The tree attains a great age. From com- 
paring Isa. xxiv. 13, and Deut. xxviii. 40, it appears 
that the unripe fruit was partly shaken, and partly 
beaten off the tree with a long pole. Ripe, or very 
pulpy fruit, furnished bad oil. The Israelites carried 
on a considerable traffic with the Tyrians in oil, Ezek. 
xxvii. 17; 1 Kings v. 11; and when they wished to 
conciliate the Egyptians, they could devise no more 
suitable means than sending to them large quantities 
of oil. At the present time, the Egyptians make great 
use of oil, though their own country affords only an 
inferior sort. It was not unusual to eat olives raw, or 
steeped in brine. The olive tree grew wild, Rom. 
xi. 17, 24, but its fruit and oil were very inferior ; 
when the cultivated plants began to degenerate, it was 
customary to graft in a wild olive, the opposite process 
to that usually adopted with fruit trees, or, as the 
apostle Paul calls it, " contrary to nature." Rom. xi. 24. 
Olive branches were employed to make booths. Neh. 
viii. 15. The cherubim in Solomon's temple were 
made of the olive tree. 1 Kings vi. 23. Among the 
Greeks, images of their gods were frequently made of 
the same material, as it was durable, and took a good 
polish. One of the three celebrated statues of Miner- 
va, on the Acropolis at Athens, was of olive wood. 
An olive branch or leaf has been, from the earliest 
times, a symbol of reconciliation and peace ; this use 



OLIVE. FIG. 239 

of it probably originated in the leaf brought by the 
dove to Noah, when the waters of the deluge had 
abated. 

Olive oil, mixed with spices to render it fragrant, 
was employed at the consecration of the priests and 
the sacred utensils. Exod. xxx. 22 — 30. Kings, also, 
were anointed with it when invested with their office. 
Anointing with oil was so customary with the orien- 
tals, that among the judgments denounced against the 
Israelites, in case they proved rebellious, it is said, 
" Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, 
but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil ; for thine 
olive shall cast his fruit." Dent, xxviii. 40. 

In the First Epistle of John, the influence of the 
Holy Spirit on believers is spoken of as an unction, or 
anointing, probably in allusion to the use of oil at the 
consecration of kings and priests. All true Christians 
are "kings and priests unto God." Rev. i. 6. Have 
we this unci ion from the Holy One ? Without it, our 
religion will be at best a form of godliness, without 
the power; the outward act, without the indwelling 
principle. 

FIG. 

This tree was, and is still, very common in Palestine. 
It is of a considerable size, crooked and knotty; it has 
a smooth, dark grey bark, and leaves shaped some- 
what like those of the mulberry; on the upper side, 
rough, and of a dark green ; underneath, white and 
downy. Its branches are spreading, and afford a re- 
freshing shade. The fruit is produced from the trunk 
and large branches, and not from the smaller shoots, 
as in most other trees. The flowers are contained in 
a fleshy receptacle, which is concave, so that its edges 
are drawn together into a narrow opening, and hence 
the ancients supposed that the fig tree never blossom- 
ed. As the leaves do not appear till after the fruit is 
formed and somewhat advanced, a tree on which the 
foliage appeared might reasonably be expected to have 
fruit. This fact serves to explain the account of the 



240 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

barren fig tree, in Matt, xxi; Mark xi. The transac- 
tion there mentioned took place a short time before 
the passover, or towards the beginning of April, and 
the early figs were ripe about the end of June. But 
as the appearance of the leaves was a sign of the ap- 
proach of summer, (as we learn from our Lord's words 
in Matt, xxi v. 32, " When the fig tree putteth forth 
leaves ye know that summer is nigh,") this tree was 
evidently more forward than others, and had there been 
fruit upon it, it would have been in a proportionably 
advanced state, and have sufficed to appease hunger, 
though not so gratifying to the palate as when ripe. 
The expression, " The time of figs was not yet," Mark 
xi. 13, evidently means the time of gathering the ripe 
fruit, like the more general phrase, in Matt. xx. 34. 
64 The time of the fruit." 

The early fig is alluded to by the prophet Nahum, 
iii. 12, " All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees 
with the first ripe figs: if they be shaken,they shall even 
fall into the mouth of the eater." The second kind, the 
summer figs, or kermoos, ripened in August. These 
were usually dried, in order to preserve in store, or to 
send to distant parts. Such were the " clusters of rai- 
sins" sent by Abigail to David, 1 Sam. xxv. 18, (see also 
1 Sam. xxx. 12,) and the. "lump of figs" laid on He- 
zekiah's boil. 2 Kings xx. 7; Isa. xxxviii. 21. The 
third kind were the winter figs, which ripened after 
the tree had shed its leaves, and, in a mild winter, 
would hang till spring. They are longer than the 
summer figs, and have a dark violet colour. 

A thousand tons of figs are annually imported into 
Great Britain from the Mediterranean and the south 
of Europe. The fig tree grows with some success in 
the southern and milder parts of England, but is sel- 
dom found in the northern parts, or Scotland, except 
under glass. In the palace at Lambeth are two cele- 
brated fig trees, which, on good grounds, are sup- 
posed to have been planted by Cardinal Pole, who 
died in 1558. They cover a space of wall fifty feet in 
height, and forty in breadth. The circumference of 
the stem of one is twenty-eight inches, and of the 



SYCAMORE. 241 

other twenty-one. They are of Ihe white Marseilles 
kind, and produce delicious fruit. 

Some critics have supposed that the tree mentioned 
in Gen. iii. 7, was the banana, which, on that account, 
has been called Adam's fig tree, or musa paradisiaca. 
The leaves of this plant, to which we have already 
referred, are of enormous size, being twelve feet long 
and two feet wide. 

SYCAMORE. 

The sycamore, or Egyptian fig tree, must not be con- 
founded with our sycamore, one of the maple tribe, 
(acer.) It belongs to the same genus as the common 




fig tree, but, in its leaves and outward appearance, 
bears a strong resemblance to the white mulberry. It 
grows very frequently in the plains and valleys; thus, 
in 1 Kings x. 21, we read of " the sycamore trees that 

22 



242 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

are in the vale." Its stem is uncommonly knotty. It 
is lofty and wide-spreading; its head is often forty 
yards in diameter. The tree is always green, and 
bears fruit several times in the year, without observing 
any certain seasons. The fruit has the figure and 
smell of real figs, but is inferior in taste, having a 
cloying sweetness. Its colour is yellow, inclining to 
an ochre, shaded by a flesh colour. One curious fact 
has been noticed by naturalists, namely, that the fruit 
must be cut or scratched, either with the nail, or with 
iron, or it will not ripen ; but four days after this pro- 
cess, it will become ripe. 

Though the grain of sycamore wood is coarse, it 
was used in building; but it cannot compete with the 
cedar for beauty and ornament, and, therefore, to 
"change sycamores into cedars," Isa. ix. 10, is a phrase 
well adapted to express the ambitious designs of a 
vain-glorious people. 

Jericho, in ancient times, was famous for the num- 
ber of trees and vegetable productions in its vicinity, 
especially palms and sycamores, Luke xix. 4; but very 
few of these now remain. When Dr. Robinson visited 
it in 1839, the groves of palms had disappeared, and 
only one solitary tree of that kind still lingered in the 
plain. The henna, the opobalsam, and the sycamore, 
had entirely vanished ; the myrobalanum alone seems 
to thrive there, being probably identical with the tree 
called by the Arabs zukkum. This is a thorny plant, 
which bears a green nut, having a very small kernel, 
and a thick shell, covered with a thin flesh outside. 
The kernels of this fruit, according to Maundrell, the 
Arabs bray in a mortar, and then, putting the pulp 
into scalding water, they skim off an oil, which rises 
to the top. This is the modern balsam, or, oil of Jeri- 
cho, highly prized by the Arabs and pilgrims for 
wounds and bruises; the pilgrims call it " Zaccheus' 
oil," because, according to the monks, this was the 
tree climbed by Zaccheus, although the Scripture says 
the latter was a sycamore. 



CITRON. MULBERRY. 243 



CITRON. 



The word translated "apple tree" and "apples" in 
our version, is, with great probability, supposed to 
mean the citron tree and its fruit. There are five pas- 
sages in which it occurs. In Joel i. 12, it is mentioned 
among the things that gave joy to the inhabitants of 
Judea; but the apple tree has never been noted for 
flourishing in that country, and, in the present day, 
the apples eaten there are of foreign growth, and of 
inferior quality. On the other hand, the account Jo- 
sephus gives of the pelting of king Alexander Jannaeus 
by the Jews, with citrons, at one of their feasts, plain- 
ly proves that they were acquainted with that fruit 
long bofore the Christian era, and it is supposed to 
have been of much longer standing in that country; 
the Jews still make use of it at their yearly feast of 
tabernacles. From the passages alluded to, we learn, 
that it was thought the noblest of the trees of the wood, 
and that its fruit was very sweet or pleasant, Cant. ii. 
3; of the colour of gold, Prov. xxv. 11; extremely 
fragrant, Cant. vii. 8; and fit to revive those who were 
ready to faint, Cant. ii. 5. The fifth passage, Cant, 
viii. 5, contains nothing particular, but the description 
which the other four give agrees perfectly with the 
citron tree and its fruit. The citron belongs to the 
same genus as the orange, lemon, lime, shaddock, and 
similar fruits ; and is supposed to be the Median, As- 
syrian, or Persian apple of the Greeks. The trees are 
constantly in vegetation; the flowers appear, even in 
midwinter, and there is so continual a succession of 
them, that flowers, young fruit, and ripe fruit, may 
always be seen at the same moment. The foliage is 
studded with minute glands, which contain the odor- 
ous juice to which the tree owes its fragrance. 

MULBERRY. 

Mentioned in 2 Sam. v. 23 24; 1 Chron. xiv. 14, 15; 
Psal. lxxxiv. 6. Jewish writers have generally under- 
stood the mulberry tree to be denoted by the word 



244 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

used in these passages. This tree is frequently to be 
met with in Lebanon and Syria, but is less common in 
Palestine. In travelling from Sidon to Beirut, Dr. 
Robinson found the whole region full of fig and mul- 
berry orchards, intermingled with the pride of India, 
and other ornamental trees. He noticed that the trees 
were kept trimmed very close, in order to make them 
put forth a greater quantity of leaves for the supply 
of the silk worms ; thus they come to have almost the 
character of dwarf trees, and contribute little to the 
beauty of the country, except by their verdure. The 
tract round Beirut is covered with mulberry groves, 
the culture of silk being the chief employment of all 
the inhabitants. 

Some, however, have supposed that the plant in- 
tended was not a mulberry tree, but a large shrub 
which the Arabs still call baca, and which gave name 
to the valley where it abounded. It distils an odori- 
ferous gum, a fact that agrees with the meaning of 
baca, which signifies " weeping." 



ALMOND. 

A tree resembling the peach tree in its leaves and 
blossoms ; but the fruit is longer and more compressed, 
the outer green coat is thinner and drier when ripe, 
and the shell of the stone is not so rugged. This stone, 
or nut, contains a kernel, which is the only esculent 
part. The whole arrives at maturity in September, 
when the outer tough cover splits open, and dis- 
charges the nut. In England, it is grown only for 
the sake of its beautiful flowers, which appear early 
in the spring, before the leaves. It seems to have de- 
rived its name in Hebrew, (which signifies haste or 
vigilance,) from its early blossoming, and we find an 
allusion to this property in Jer. i. 11, 12. 

Almonds were among the presents which Jacob 
charged his sons to take with them on their second 
journey to Egypt. Gen. xliii. 11. The ornaments of 
the golden candlesticks were made after the pattern of 
almonds. Exod. xxv. 33. 



POMEGRANATE. 245 

Aaron's rod, which budded, and by this means se- 
cured to him the priesthood, was a branch of this tree. 
Numb. xvii. S. 



POMEGRANATE. 

This is a tree which grows to the height of eight or 
ten feet, and is very common in the south of Europe, 
Arabia, Palestine, and other parts of the east, as well 
as in the West Indies. 

It is a bushy plant, and sends out numerous side 
shoots, on some of which 
are thorns. The leaves are 
narrow and spear-shaped ; 
the flowers large, hand- 
some, of a deep scarlet co- 
lour, and formed of five pe- 
tals. The fruit is of the size 
of an orange, divided into 
nine or ten compartments, 
containing a quantity of sub- 
acid juice and purplish kernels; it is ripe about the 
end of August. 

"Wine of the juice of the pomegranate," Cant. viii. 
2, may mean either wine acidulated with the juice 
of this fruit, or a cool summer beverage, made by 
mixing the juice with water, such as is commonly 
drunk in the east at the present day. The juice is 
used with various dishes, much in the same manner 
as we use lemon juice. The form of the fruit was so 
beautiful, that it was used as an ornament at the 
bottom of the high priest's robes, Exod. xxviii. 33 ; 
and it was also a principal ornament of the columns 
of Solomon's temple. 1 Kings vii. IS; 2 Kings xxv. 
17; 2 Chron. iii. 16; Jer. lii. 22, 23. 

The Hebrew word signifying the pomegranate, 
(rimmon) is employed either singly, or in combina- 
tion with some other terms, as the name of various 
places, in whose vicinity, most probably, this plant 
flourished in great abundance. Thus we read of 

22* 




246 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

« Gath-rimmon," Josh. xix. 45, a town which existed 
in the time of Eusebius ; " Remmon-methoar," Josh. 
xix. 13; Rimmon-parez, a station of the Israelites in 
their journey through the wilderness, between Rith- 
mah and Libnah, Numb, xxxiii. 19; "the rock of 
Rimmon," not far from Gibeah, Judges xx. 45, 47; 
perhaps the same place is meant in 1 Sam. xiv. 2, 
" Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah, under 
a pomegranate tree which is in Migron." 

PALM. 

The palm, or date tree, is a native of the warm cli- 
mates of Africa and Asia. It rises to a great height, 
sometimes as much as ninety or a hundred feet. The 
stalks, or trunks, are generally full of rugged knots, 
which are the vestiges of the decayed leaves, for the 
trunk of this tree is not solid ; but its centre is filled 
with pith, round which is a tough bark, full of strong 
fibres when young, which, as the tree grows old, 
hardens and becomes woody. To this bark the 
leaves are closely joined, which in the centre rise 
erect ; but, after they are advanced above the sheath 
that surrounds them, they expand very widely on 
every side of the stem, and as the older leaves decay, 
the stalk advances in height. The main stems of the 
leaves are from eight to twelve feet long, and each 
embraces, at its insertion, a considerable part of the 
trunk. The leaves are pinnated, or in the form of 
feathers, each leaf being composed of a great number 
of long, narrow leaflets, which are alternate, and of a 
bright lively green. Near the base of the leaf, these 
leaflets are often three feet long, but, even then, they 
are not one inch in breadth; neither do they open 
flat, but have a ridge in the middle, like the keel of a 
boat. When the leaves are young, they are twisted 
together and matted up with loose fibres, which open 
and disperse as the leaf expands. The young leaflet 
is also armed at the extremity with a hard black 
spine, or thorn. The fruit-bearing flowers, and those 
which are not so, grow on different trees; and, in 



TALM. 247 

order to insure fructification, the pollen is sometimes 
conveyed artificially from the latter to the former. 
The fruit, which ripens in about five months, is pro- 
duced in clusters, which grow from the trunk of the 
tree, between the leaves. In a good tree, and in a 
productive season, there may be from fifteen to twen- 
ty clusters, each weighing about as many pounds. 
A considerable part of the inhabitants of Egypt, Ara- 
bia, and Persia, subsist almost entirely on this fruit. 
The Egyptians make a conserve of the fresh dates 
with sugar. The stones they break and grind in 
their handmills, and give them to their camels for 
food. In Barbary, they turn handsome beads of 
these stones. Of the leaves they make baskets, fly- 
traps, mats, and brushes. The hard boughs they use 
for garden fences, and cages for fowls. The wood is 
soft and spongy, but burns well. They lay a whole 
tree across their cisterns, on which they wind the rope 
when they draw water. The threads of the integu- 
ment at the basis of the leaves are twisted into ropes, 
and used as rigging for small vessels. By cutting oft 
the head of a palm, and scooping out a hollow in the 
top, three or four quarts of sap may be obtained daily 
from a single palm for ten days or a fortnight, after 
which the quantity gradually lessens, till in about two 
months the tree is fit only for fuel. This liquor is 
sweetish at first, but soon ferments, and by distillation 
a spirit is obtained which is one kind of arrack. 

Large quantities of the fruit are dried before they 
have acquired their greatest mellowness, and form a 
valuable article of food, particularly for the caravans 
in passing through the desert. 

As the uses of the date tree are so numerous and 
valuable, we can scarcely be surprised that the inhabi- 
tants of the countries where it grows consider it essen- 
tial to comfort and prosperity. An Arabian who 
once visited England, found it difficult to satisfy the 
curiosity of his countrymen respecting the buildings 
and other wonders of the metropolis ; till at last he 
said, "In the whole city and country I never saw a 
single palm tree!" " What a wretched country that 



248 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

has no dates V exclaimed the Arabians of the desert, 
and wished to hear no more about England. 

Palm trees formerly abounded in Palestine. Jericho 
was called "the city of palm trees." Deut. xxxiv. 3 ; 
Judges i. 16; hi. 13; 2 Chron. xxviii. 15. Deborah, 
we are told, "dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah, 
between Ramah and Bethel." Judges iv. 5. Solo- 
mon built a city in the desert, most probably in the 
first instance as a resting-place for the caravans of the 
merchants who carried on the traffic between eastern 
and western Asia. This city was called Tamar or 
Tadmor, 1 Kings ix. 18; 2 Chron. viii. 4 ; Ezek. xlvii. 
19; xlviii. 28 ; and afterwards Palmyra, names taken 
from the numerous palm trees in its vicinity; at pre- 
sent it is occupied by an Arabian horde, who have 
erected their miserable hovels amidst the ruins of its 
magnificence. 

The presence of the palm tree is an unerring sign 
of water ; so that when the Israelites came to Elim, 
where there were seventy palm trees, they found like- 
wise twelve wells. Exod. xv. 27. 

Palm branches were emblems of victory, and were 
carried before conquerors in triumphal processions ; 
to this practice allusion is made in Rev. vii. 9; and 
for this purpose they were borne before Christ on his 
entry into Jerusalem. John xii. 13. They were also 
used by the Jews, with the branches of other trees, at 
the feast of tabernacles, as a memorial of their deliver- 
ance from bondage in Egypt. Lev. xxiii. 40 ; Neh. 
viii. 15. 

The present comparative rareness of palm trees in 
Palestine is not the consequence of any alteration in 
the climate, but of those frequent wars by which the 
land has been laid waste ; for the climate itself is one 
of the most desirable in the world. There are few 
countries in which both the date tree and the vine can 
flourish. In Egypt, Arabia, and North Africa, the 
date tree flourishes, but the climate is too warm for 
the vine. In Spain, Naples, and Sicily, where the 
vine grows excellently, the date-palm is frequently 
planted, but its fruit does not ripen. But the climate 



PALM. 249 

of Palestine is exactly a medium between Egypt and 
Naples, or Algiers and Spain : it possesses that mean 
temperature which is the highest degree suitable for 
the vine, and the lowest for the date tree. 

The palm tree anciently held so conspicuous a place 
among the vegetable productions of Palestine, that it 
became a symbol of the nation. Jewish coins, struck 
in the time of the Maccabees, have on one side the 
palm, and on the other vine leaves, as emblems of the 
country. Also a medal was struck by the Emperor 
Vespasian upon the conquest of Judea, representing 
a captive woman under a palm tree, with this inscrip- 
tion, " juDiEA capta." And on a Greek coin of his 
son Titus, we see a shield suspended upon a palm 
tree, with a figure of Victory writing upon it. Pliny 
also calls Judea "palmis inclyta" renowned for 
palms. 



THE INORGANIC KINGDOM. 



In this kingdom are included all substances which 
cannot be termed animals or vegetables, or which 
have not been parts of such ; all substances which 
have never lived and died. It therefore includes 
earths, stones, crystals, water, ice, minerals of all 
kinds, the metals, sulphur, acids, and alkalies. This 
kingdom is governed by the laws of chemistry alone, 
including those of attraction, repulsion, and gravita- 
tion. Though crystals assume definite forms, they 
are not organized; their form, unless' changed by ex- 
ternal agency, would remain for ever unaltered ; they 
neither grow, nor decay, nor die, like animals and 
plants ; they have no vital powers, no vital functions, 
no vital organs ; and hence their general term, inor- 
ganic substances. Some of these demand our notice. 



250 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



L-PRECIOUS STONES. 

Precious Stones, or gems, Rev. xvii. 4, are a class 
of mineral substances, remarkable for their brilliancy, 
hardness, and rich colouring. Upon these qualities 
depends their value, and according to the greater or 
less degree of these, together with their size, they are 
more or less valuable. They are usually found in 
small masses, but sometimes large specimens occur, 
which fetch an enormous price. They are composed 
chiefly of earthy matter ; in most of them is a small 
portion of metallic substance, to which they owe their 
great variety of colours. The diamond, although 
ranked among the precious stones, is not properly 
one, as its chemical composition is different. 

The most brilliant and costly gems come from the 
East Indies and South America. Syria supplied the 
city of Tyre with emeralds and agates, Ezek. xxvii. 
16 ; while Sheba and Raamah, southern parts of Ara- 
bia, furnished all precious stones and gold, v. 22 ; from 
Sheba also, the queen of that country brought them as 
a present to Solomon. 1 Kings x. 2, 10. From differ- 
ent parts of the Bible, as well as from other histories, 
it appears that gems were known and highly valued 
in very early times. Moses speaks of the onyx being 
found in the land of Havilah. Gen. ii. 12. Job alludes 
to several kinds of precious stones in his sublime dis- 
course on true wisdom, xxviii. 6, 16 — 19. They were 
used as the most splendid ornaments for robes, vessels, 
furniture, and costly houses. The high priest's robe 
was brilliant with them ; on each shoulder was a large 
onyx stone, and on the breast-plate were twelve differ- 
ent gems set in sockets of gold. Exod. xxviii. 9 — 20. 
Among the materials collected by David for the tem- 
ple, were " onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering 
stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of pre- 
cious stones," 1 Chron. xxix. 2, which were used in 
adorning the temple, as appears from 2 Chron. iii. 6. 
The robes of the king of Tyre were covered with the 
most brilliant gems. Ezek. xxviii. 13. The art of cut- 
ting and polishing precious stones seems to have been 



PRECIOUS STONES. 251 

very ancient, and was carried to great perfection. On 
each of the twelve stones in the sacred breast-plate was 
engraved the name of one of the twelve tribes of Is- 
rael ; and the onyx stones on the high priest's shoul- 
ders contained these twelve names, six on each, " with 
the work of an engraver in stone." Exod. xxviii. 9-21. 

Engraving on precious stones is either what is call- 
ed in intaglio, (an Italian word from in and tagliare 
to cut,) or in relievo, (raised.) Of the former we have 
the earliest account in the Old Testament. When Ta- 
in ar desired a pledge of Judah, he gave her his signet. 
Gen. xxxviii. 18. The high priest's breast-plate, which 
we have already mentioned, is another instance. The 
earliest Greek artist mentioned as an engraver of stones 
is Theodorus of Samos, who flourished at least seven 
hundred years later than the time of Moses. 

The art of cutting gems, on account of their hard- 
ness and value, requires great nicety and skill in the 
workmen. In cutting one kind of stone, it is neces- 
sary to make use of another equally hard, or harder 
than itself. Thus the diamond can be cut only by its 
own powder, while it will cut all the other kinds. One 
method of cutting and polishing is, by means of a 
wheel of iron or copper turning rapidly with the pro- 
per sort of powder mixed in oil or water. The pow- 
der commonl 5>" used for this purpose is that of emery, 
a variety of the stone called corundum, a substance 
of the same nature as the sapphire, which is obtained 
chiefly from the island of Naxos, though found also 
in Italy, Spain, and Saxony. 

In a figurative sense, precious stones are employed 
to signify the highest degree of excellence, beauty, 
strength, value, and durability, in the objects with 
which they are compared. In this light we may un- 
derstand the figures or comparisons in Cant. v. 14; 
Lam. iv. 7; Rev. iv. 3; the meaning of the blessings 
promised to the church, Isa. liv. 11, 12; and the de- 
scription of the heavenly city beheld in vision by John. 
Rev. xxi. 10 — 21. After these general observations, 
we shall proceed to give some account of the precious 
stones mentioned in Exod. xxviii., and in Rev. xxi. 



25^5 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



SARDIUS. 

The name of this stone was probably derived from 
Sardis, where it was originally found. It is known to 
us more familiarly by the name of carnelian, which it 
has received on account of the flesh colour (Latin, 
carnis) of some of its varieties. Carnelians are never 
figured or striped ; the colours are shades of red and 
yellow ; the deep red being most esteemed. The He- 
brew name refers to its red colour. They are found 
in Japan in great abundance, and in the neighbour- 
hood of Surat. 

TOPAZ 
Is supposed to be the same as the modern chrysolite ; 
it is found in Upper Egypt. The colour is green, 
sometimes brownish or yellowish. A variety called 
olivine is found in Hungary and on the banks of the 
Rhine. 

CARBUNCLE 

Is a very elegant and rare gem, known to the ancients 
by the name of anthrax, or coal, because when held 
up to the sun it appears like a piece of bright burning 
charcoal. It is a variety of the garnet ; the best spe- 
cimens are met with in the Birman empire. 

EMERALD 
Is a variety of the beryl, and distinguished by its pe- 
culiarly rich, deep green colour. The finest speci- 
mens are brought from Peru ; it has also been found 
in Upper Egypt, where are old mines, from which it 
is supposed the ancients were supplied with this stone. 
The value of the emerald depends not only on its size, 
colour, and brilliancy, but on its freedom from flaws. 
Exod. xxviii. 18; Ezek. xxvii. 16; xxviii. 13; Rev. 
xxi. 19. 

SAPPHIRE 
Is a transparent stone, of a rich sky blue lustre, infe- 
rior in hardness only to the ruby and the diamond. 



PRECIOUS STONES. 253 

In the choicest specimens it is of the deepest azure, 
and, in others, varies in shades of all degrees between 
that and the pure crystal brightness of water without 
the least tinge of colour, but with a lustre much supe- 
rior to crystal. Exod. xxiv. 10; xxviii. 18; Job xxviii. 
6, 16; Cant. v. 14; Isa. liv. 11; Ezek. i. 26 ; x. 1 ; 
xxviii. 13; Rev. xxi. 19. 

DIAMOND 
Is the most splendid and costly of the precious stones, 
and the hardest. It unites in itself the clearness of the 
purest water, and the glowing splendour of fire. It is 
however sometimes found coloured green, yellow, red, 
brown, blue, and black. Owing to its hardness, it can 
be cut, or rather worn down, only by rubbing one dia- 
mond against another, and it is polished by dust of the 
gem itself; but it may be broken without difficulty. 
It has been established, by numerous experiments, 
that the diamond and charcoal are identical in their 
chemical nature, though otherwise presenting so many 
points of difference. The term " adamant" is used 
for the diamond, and sometimes as a general term for 
a stone of extraordinary hardness. Exod. xxviii. IS; 
xxxix. 11; Ezek. xxviii. 13. 

LIGURE 
Is a transparent, hard stone, of a deep red colour, with 
a considerable tinge of yellow. When exposed to the 
action of fire it loses its colour. 

AGATE 
Is a siliceous stone, containing ninety-eight parts in 
one hundred of pure silica. The Mocha stones and 
moss agates are semi-transparent chalcedony; they 
receive their name from being brought from Mocha, 
though they are also found in Guzerat, South Ame- 
rica, and the United States. A name of agate more 
familiar to us is Scotch pebble. 

AMETHYST. 
The oriental amethyst is a variety of corundum or 
adamantine spar. Its colour varies from a rose red to 

23 



254 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

a deep purple or violet, but it is sometimes colour- 
less and transparent. The term amethyst is also ap- 
plied to a variety of quartz, or rock crystal, which is 
met with in India, and in many countries of Europe. 

BERYL, 

Called also aquamarine, is in fact only a variety of the 
emerald, presenting different shades of sky blue or 
mountain green. It is found principally in Siberia 
and Brazil. An enormous specimen was found at 
Acworth, New Hampshire, United States: its dimen- 
sions are stated to have been four feet in length, and 
five inches and a half across the lateral planes, and 
the weight to have been two hundred and thirty-eight 
pounds. The beryl has also been met with in Ire- 
land; those from the granite of the Moone Mountains, 
county of Down, are the finest. In Scotland, it is 
found in the granite of Rubeslaw quarries near Aber- 
deen, and in broken pieces in the sands of the rivers 
of that country. The beryl is mentioned in Exod. 
xxxix. 13; Dan. x. 6; Rev. xxi. 20. 

ONYX, 
A precious stone, so called from the Greek word for a 
(human) nail, to the colour of which, in the part close 
to the base, it nearly approaches. It is first mentioned 
with the gold and bdellium of the river Pison in 
Eden; but the meaning of the Hebrew word is not 
easily determined. The Septuagint renders it in dif- 
ferent places the sardius, beryl, sapphire, emerald, etc. 
Such names are often ambiguous even in Greek and 
Latin, and no wonder if they be more so in Hebrew. 
It is certain that Arabia abounds with precious stones 
of all sorts, as appears from Ezek. xxvii. 22 ; where 
the prophet, in enumerating the chief commodities in 
which the Arabian merchants from Sheba and Raa- 
mah trafficked with Tyre, mentions " spices, precious 
stones, and gold," agreeably to what Moses says of 
the bdellium, gold, and onyx of Havilah. And it may 
be observed that in the next verse the prophet men- 
tions Eden as one of the countries in the neighbour- 



PRECIOUS STONES. 255 

hood of Sheba, which directs us to seek for the situa- 
tion of Paradise in those parts. 

In 1 Chron. xxix. 2, onyx stones are mentioned 
among the things prepared by David for the temple. 
The late Mr. C. Taylor observes on this passage, that 
" the word onyx is very equivocal, signifying 1st, a 
precious stone or gem; and 2dly, a marble, called in 
the Greek onychites, which Pliny in his Natural His- 
tory, xxxvii. 6, mentions as a stone of Caramania. 
Antiquity gave both these stones this name because 
of their resemblance to the nail of the fingers. The 
onyx of the high priest's pectoral was no doubt the 
gem onyx; the stone prepared by David was the 
marble onyx, or rather onychus : for one-would hardly 
think that gems of any kind were used externally in 
such a building, but variegated marble may readily 
be admitted." 

Onyx stones are sometimes found of a large size. 
In the cathedral church at Cologne, in Germany, there 
is one exceeding a palm or hand's breadth. 

JASPER 
Is a stone of the quartz family; there are many varie- 
ties of different colours: one of them is found among 
the sands of Egypt, striped alternately with brown of 
various shades, and black, Exod. xxviii. 20 ; Ezek. 
xxviii. 13. The jasper mentioned in Rev. xxi. 11, is 
supposed to have been a variety of the diamond. 

CHALCEDONY 
Derives its name from Chalcedon in Bithynia, where 
it is found. It is semi-transparent, of a milky white, 
or pale yellow, with shades of other colours. It is 
found in the Faroe islands, and Iceland, also in Corn- 
wall, and other parts of Great Britain. 

SARDONYX 

Is a variety of the onyx, which is supposed to have 
been so called from Sardes in Lydia: others derive it 
from Sardo, the Greek name of the island Sardinia, 
there being some reason for thinking that the Cartha- 



256 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

ginians brought it from that island. In this stone 
bands of opaque white alternate with a rich, deep 
orange brown. 

CHRYSOLITE 
Is the topaz of the moderns. It is one of the softest of 
the gems. The Indian topaz is of a yellowish green 
colour. 

THE CHRYSOPRASUS 
Is a rare apple-green chalcedony, found in Siberia. It 
is nearly all flint or silica, and owes its colour to a 
minute portion of the oxide of nickel. 

JACINTH 
Or hyacinth, is a gem of a violet colour, probably a 
variety of the amethyst. " The following statement/' 
says the author of the Illustrated Commentary, " is 
very nearly true, and will be easily remembered ; a 
certain gem in hardness and brilliancy next to the dia- 
mond was called a jacinth or hyacinth by the ancients, 
when of a violet colour ; an amethyst, when of a rosy 
red; a sapphire, when blue; and an emerald, when 
green." The ruby is considered by mineralogists as 
a variety of the sapphire. 

We shall now briefly notice some other mineral 
substances mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures. 

MARBLE. 
Marbles, strictly speaking, may be considered as cal- 
careous, or limestone rocks, of lively colours, and 
capable of taking a fine polish. Some are of one 
plain colour; of these the pure white is most esteem- 
ed, obtained by the ancients from the island of Paros, 
and by the moderns from Carrara in Italy. In the 
book of Esther, the pavement of the banqueting court 
of king Ahasuerus is said to be composed "of red, 
and blue, and white, and black marble.'' Other mar- 
bles are variegated with two or more colours. A 
large and beautiful class contains shells, and corals, 
and other extraneous bodies, of which specimens exist 
in great abundance in England ; as, for example, in the 



ALABASTER. 257 

Plymouth and Ashburton limestone, and the marbles 
of Flintshire, Derbyshire, and Garsdale in Yorkshire. 
Limestone is referred to in Isa. xxvii. 9, where it is 
said, " When he maketh all the stones of the altar as 
chalkstones that are beaten in sunder;" as Dr. Lee ex- 
plains it, "As stones of burnt lime dissolved or slaked, 
i. e. so that such altars shall be no more reared." 
Limestone is the prevailing constituent of all the 
mountains of Syria. The whole of Mount Lebanon, 
(which signifies "the white mountain,") consists of 
whitish limestone; or at least the rocky surface, as it 
reflects the light, exhibits every where a whitish as- 
pect. The country around Jerusalem is all of a hard 
limestone formation, which, towards the Dead Sea, is 
exchanged for one of a looser friable texture. 

ALABASTER. 

There are two kinds of stone to which this name is 
applied, the one a carbonate, the other a sulphate of 
lime. The former was the material frequently used 
by the ancients for perfume boxes. Such was the 
alabaster box, containing the precious ointment poured 
by Mary, the sister of Lazarus, on the head of the 
Saviour. Matt. xxvi. 6, 7. The expression "she 
brake the box," Mark xiv. 3, probably means that 
the seal which closed it, and kept the perfume from 
evaporating, had never been removed, but that it was 
on this occasion broken, that is, first opened. 

The sulphate of lime forms the softest kind of ala- 
baster; when pure, it is a beautiful semi-transparent 
snow-white substance; that of the finest quality is 
found in Tuscany, and is much employed in various 
works of art. The name alabaster is derived from 
Alabastron, a town in Middle Egypt, the stone being 
obtained from a mountain about thirty miles south- 
east of the town. 

CLAY. 
An earthy substance, which is generally soft, and feels 
greasy to the touch; it is adhesive to the tongue; when 
moistened, has a peculiar smell ; and is capable of being 
cut with a knife, and polished by rubbing with the fin- 

23* 



258 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

ger nail. Some kinds, when wet, fall into a powder, 
and are used as paints. Others, with a proper quantity 
of water, form a kind of stiff paste, which may be work- 
ed into shape, and by exposure to heat becomes hard 
and solid. These last, from which various articles of 
pottery are made, are more strictly called clays. The 
two chief constituents of all clays are alumina, (called 
also argil, or argillaceous earth,) to which their plastic 
quality is owing, and silica, or flint, (flint, commonly so 
called, containing ninety-eight parts per cent, of silica.) 

The first use of clay mentioned in the Scriptures, is 
that of making bricks with it for building the tower of 
Babel. Gen. xi. 3. The bricks manufactured for that 
purpose appear to have been baked in the fire like our 
own; but the bricks made by the Israelites in Egypt 
were composed of clay, mixed with straw, and sun- 
dried. Such bricks may be seen in the pyramids at 
Dasham and Fai'oum, and the straw which is still visi- 
ble proves that they were not prepared in a furnace. 

Methods of working in clay, similar to those now in 
use, appear to have been employed by the ancients. 
The kneading or treading of the clay is spoken of in 
Isa. xli. 25; the potter's wheel in Jer. xviii. 3; and 
the kiln, 2 Sam. xii. 31; Jer. xliii. 9; Nah. hi. 14. 

Fuller's earth is a particular kind of clay, formerly 
much employed in fulling, or cleaning cloth. In its 
chemical composition, it appears to differ from potters' 
clay chiefly in having a larger proportion of water. 
The occupation of a fuller is referred to both in the 
Old and New Testament; but the u soap" mentioned 
in Mai. iii. 2, " For he is like a refiner's fire, and like 
fullers' soap," is not the earthy substance just men- 
tioned, nor exactly the same as our modern soap, but 
probably an alkali collected from plants, and used in 
combination with oil, so as to answer a similar purpose. 

NITRE. 
The nitre of the Scriptures, Prov. xxv. 20; Jer. ii. 22; 
the nitron or nitrum of the Greeks and Romans, is not 
the nitrate of potash or saltpetre, which we commonly 
call by this name; but the carbonate of soda, which is 
found in vast quantities in Egypt. The Natron valley 



SALT. 259 

is situated in the western desert, which borders on 
Lower Egypt. It contains six lakes, ranged in suc- 
cession along the valley for sixteen miles, and sepa- 
rated from each other by barren sands. These lakes 
are remarkable for the quantity of their saline depo- 
sits, which consist both of muriate of soda, or com- 
mon salt, and carbonate of soda, called natron or trona. 
The lakes are supplied with water, which oozes from 
the side towards the Nile; and the quantity of water 
in the lakes seems to be regulated by the state of that 
river. The banks of the lakes below the springs are 
covered with crystallizations. The natron is collected 
once a year, and is used both in Egypt and Syria, as 
also in Europe, for manufacturing glass and soap, and 
for bleaching linen. Herodotus states, that it was made 
use of by the ancient Egyptians in embalming their 
dead. Hasselquist says, that < k the Egyptians use it 
for two purposes; (1,) to put into bread instead of 
yeast ; (2,) to wash linen with instead of soap." 

SALT. 
This well-known substance is found in large masses 
in a mineral state, and is also obtained by evaporation 
from sea water, and from the water of saline springs. 
Under the Mosaic economy, salt was used in all the 
sacrifices. " Every oblation of thy meat-offering shalt 
thou season with salt ; neither shalt thou suffer the 
salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy 
meat offering : with all thine offerings thou shalt offer 
salt." Lev. ii. 13. " Salt," as an eminent commentator 
remarks, " was the opposite to leaven, for it preserved 
from putrefaction and corruption, and signified the pu- 
rity and persevering fidelity that are necessary in the 
worship of God. It was called 'the salt of the cove- 
nant of God,' because, as salt is incorruptible, so were 
the covenant and promise of Jehovah. Among the 
heathens, salt was a common ingredient in all their 
sacrificial offerings ; and as it was considered essential 
to the comfort and preservation of life, and an emblem 
of the most perfect corporeal and mental endowments, 
so it was supposed to be one of the most acceptable 
presents they could make to their gods." 



260 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

Salt, among eastern nations, anciently was and still 
is a symbol of hospitality and friendship. To have 
eaten of a man's salt, is to be bound to him by the 
ties of friendship. Among the Arabs of the desert, the 
ratification of a covenant or engagement by the parties 
eating salt together, is considered more solemn and 
binding than any oath ; and so far is this sentiment 
carried, that if a person who is an object of enmity to 
another has accidentally eaten salt with him, it will be 
a sure protection from any outrage. Salt is often an 
equivalent expression for food in general, of which the 
Scripture phraseology will supply an instance. In 
Ezra iv. 14, it is said in our version, "We have main- 
tenance from the king's palace ;" but the marginal 
and more literal translation is, " We are salted with 
the salt of the palace." 

In Palestine, the most extraordinary specimen of fos- 
sil salt is that on the south-western extremity of the 
Dead Sea. The mountain is called Khasm Usdum, 
and is a solid mass of rock salt. " The ridge," says Dr. 
Robinson, " is in general very uneven and rugged, va- 
rying from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet 
in height. It is indeed covered with layers of chalky 
limestone or marie, so as to present chiefly the appear- 
ance of common earth or rock ; yet the mass of salt 
very often breaks out, and appears on the sides in pre- 
cipices forty or fifty feet high, and several hundred 
feet in length, of pure crystallized fossil salt. We 
could at first hardly believe our eyes, until we had se- 
veral times approached the precipices, and broken 
off pieces to satisfy ourselves both by the touch and 
taste. As we advanced, large lumps and masses bro- 
ken off from above lay like rocks upon the shore, or 
were fallen down as debris. The very stones beneath 
our feet were pure salt. This continued to be the char- 
acter of the mountain, more or less distinctly marked, 
throughout its whole length, a distance of two hours and 
a half, or five geographical miles. The Arabs affirmed, 
that the western side exhibited similar appearances. 
The lumps of salt are not transparent, but present a 
dark appearance, precisely similar to that of the large 
quantities of the mineral salt which we afterwards saw 



PITCH. 261 

at Varna, and in the towns along the lower Danube, 
the produce of the salt mines of those regions. 

" The existence here of this immense mass of fossil 
salt, which, according to the latest geological views, is 
a frequent accompaniment of volcanic action, accounts 
sufficiently for the excessive saltness of the Dead Sea. 
At this time the waters of the lake did not indeed wash 
the base of the mountain, though they appear to do so 
on some occasions ; but the rains of winter, and the 
streamlets which we still found running to the sea, 
would naturally carry into it in the course of ages a 
sufficiency of salt to produce most of the phenomena." 
— Robinson's Biblical Researches, vol. ii. p. 482. 

The powerful evaporation from the Dead Sea, pro- 
duces a saline deposit on its shores during the summer, 
from which the Arabs obtain a supply for themselves 
and their flocks. The water has a slightly greenish 
hue, and is not perfectly transparent. It is most in- 
tensely and intolerably salt, and leaves behind a bitter 
nauseous taste, like that of Glauber's salts. The water 
is exceedingly buoyant. Dr. Robinson states, that 
though he could never swim before either in fresh or 
salt water, yet in this he could sit, stand, lie, or swim 
without difficulty. By the analysis of eminent chem- 
ists, it appears that one hundred pounds of this water 
contain from forty-one to forty-five pounds of salts, 

PITCH. 

There are two substances, one vegetable, the other 
mineral, to which this name is applied. They are both 
mentioned in the book of Exodus as employed in ren- 
dering waterproof, the ark, or boat, in which Moses 
was laid by his mother on the banks of the Nile. We 
are told, " she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and 
daubed it with slime and with pitch." Exod. ii. 3. The 
word rendered "slime" is the same as that employed 
in Gen. xi. 3. " They had brick for stone, and slime 
had they for mortar." It appears to have been as- 
phaltum, frequently called slaggy, or compact mineral 
pitch ; it is one of the varieties of bitumen, and arises 
from the decomposition of vegetable matter. It is 



262 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

found ill masses of a dark brown or black colour, and 
a resinous lustre. It is opaque, and very brittle at a 
low temperature, but softens and fuses by the applica- 
tion of heat. It is found in most countries, but most 
abundantly at Hit, above Babylon, on the Euphrates; 
near the Tigris, on the shores or surface of the Dead 
Sea, and on the isiand of Trinidad ; in the latter is a 
lake, or basin, of asphaltum, three miles in circumfer- 
ence, and of unknown depth.* As to the Dead Sea, 
the Arabs who accompanied Dr. Robinson informed 
him that, after an earthquake, in 1834, a large quan- 
tity of asphaltum was cast on shore near the south- 
west part of the sea, of which above five hundred 
weight were brought into market. Also, after the 
earthquake of January 1, 1837, a large mass of bitu- 
men, one said like an island, another like a house, was 
discovered floating on the sea, and was driven aground 
on the west side. One tribe of Arabs swam off to it, 
and cut it to pieces, so as to bring it to shore. An- 
other tribe heard of it, and went to get a share of the 
prize. They found seventy men upon it and around 
it. It was carried off by camel loads, and sold ; one 
party gained more than five hundred dollars, and-the 
other between two and three thousand. Except in 
those two years, the sheikh of the Jehalur, a man 
fifty years old, had never known of bitumen appear- 
ing on the sea, nor heard of it from his fathers. This 
information, however, serves to illustrate and confirm 
•the account of Josephus, that "the sea, in many 
places, sends up black masses of asphaltum, which 
float on the surface, having the form and size of 
headless oxen.' 7 Diodorus Siculus, also, relates that 
the bitumen is thrown up in masses, bearing the ap- 
pearance of islands. 

" The vale of Siddim," we are informed by the 
sacred historian, "was full of s!ime-pits," Gen. xiv. 
10, that is to say, wells of asphaltum, or bitumen, the 
Hebrew word being the same as that used in Gen. 



* A paper in the Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of 
London, by Dr. Xugent, 1811, quoted by Dr. Robinson in his Biblical 
Researches, vol. ii. 675. 



BRIMSTONE. 263 

xi. 3. The same word is also- used respecting the 
ark, in Gen. vi. 14, but in our version is rendered 
"pitch." 

The vegetable pitch is obtained from various sorts 
of pines, which abound in oily and resinous matter. 
Common turpentine flows from the pine by incisions. 
From this- the oil is got by distillation, and what re- 
mains is resin. Tar is obtained by burning the wood 
in a sort of oven, or kiln, and flows into a hole be- 
neath ; this by long boiling becomes pitch. 

BRIMSTONE. 

The common name for sulphur, which seems to have 
been given to that substance from its very inflamma- 
ble quality, meaning the burning, or fiery stone. 

Sulphur, or brimstone, is a simple substance, very 
widely diffused over the earth, but found most abun- 
dantly in volcanic regions. It exists, in combination 
with iron, to a great extent, in which state it is called 
iron pyrites: the proportion of sulphur in this is 
above one half, or more than fifty-two out of a hun- 
dred parts.* The first mention of brimstone in the 
Scriptures is in the account of the destruction of " the 
cities of the plain." " Then the Lord rained upon 
Sodom, and upon Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from 
the Lord out of heaven," Gen. xix. 24; and in seve- 
ral other passages it occurs in allusion to this awful 
event. " Upon the wicked," says the Psalmist, " he 
shall rain snares," (" quick burning coals," marginal 
reading,) " fire and brimstone and a horrible burning," 
(marginal reading,) " tempest," Psal. xi. 6. See also 
Deut. xxix. 23; Job xviii. 15; Isa. xxx. 33; xxxiv. 9; 
Ezek. xxxviii. 22; and in the New Testament, Luke 
xvii. 29; Rev. ix. 17, 18; xiv. 10; xix. 20; xx. 10; 
xxi. 8. 

At the present day, sulphur is found in various parts 

* Analysis of bisulphuret of iron, by Hatchett. 

Sulphur . . 52 15. 
Iron . . . 47-85. 

100 



264 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

of the borders of the Dead Sea; Dr. Robinson and his 
friends picked up pieces of it as large as a walnut, near 
the northern and western shore, and the Arabs in- 
formed him that it was found in the sea, near the 
fountain Ain-el-Feshkah, in lumps as large as a man's 
fist; the water of that spring has also a slight taste of 
sulphuretted hydrogen. They find it in sufficient 
quantities to make from it their own gunpowder. 
There are also hot sulphur springs on the eastern coast, 
near the ancient Callirrhoe. 

AMBER. 

This is a mineral substance, of which the chief con- 
stituent is carbon: it is found in beds of fossil wood, 
(or lignite,) in several countries of Europe, and also 
floating on the sea, particularly on the coasts of the 
Baltic, where it is thrown on shore in considerable 
quantities, between Konigsberg and Memel. There 
have been various conjectures respecting its origin. 
Recent experiments favour the conclusion that it is a 
hardened vegetable juice, which agrees very well with 
the fact, that small insects are found imbedded in it. 
Such, indeed, was the opinion expressed by Tacitus, 
who tells us, that the barbarians who gathered it at- 
tached no value to it, and only wondered at the Ro- 
mans, who were eager to obtain it, in order to convert 
it into ornaments and articles of luxury. The ancient 
Germans called it glesum, from a word signifying 
bright, or shining; but their descendants have trans- 
ferred the term to glass. Pliny states that, in his time, 
a small piece of wrought amber was deemed more 
than equivalent to the price of a robust slave. By the 
Greeks it was called electron, and the science of elec- 
tricity derives its name from it, in consequence of its 
possessing the property of attracting light bodies, after 
it has been excited by friction. 

The Jews might have become acquainted with am- 
ber through the medium of the Phenicians, with whom 
we have the authority of Herodotus for saying, it was 
an article of commerce. There is, however, no allu- 
sion to it before the time of the Babylonish captivity, 



AMBER. — METALS. 265 

since it is only mentioned by Ezekiel, when that pro- 
phet " was among the captives by the river of Chebar, 
and saw visions of God." Ezek. i. 1, 4, 27 ; viii. 2. 

In the opinion of many eminent critics, this sub- 
stance is not intended by the Hebrew term, because 
amber loses its lustre when heated ; but a mixed me- 
tal is meant, of four parts gold and one part silver, 
which was distinguished for its brilliancy, and was 
also called electron* But as the allusion is only to 
the native colour of amber, it seems unnecessary to 
look for another substance. 



II. METALS. 

All the accounts of ancient writers agree with those 
of the sacred Scriptures, that gold, silver, and copper, 
were the first metals with which mankind were ac- 
quainted. Before the flood, Tubal-Cain taught the 
use of iron and copper, in manufacturing tools of va- 
rious kinds. Gen. iv. 22. 

The Israelites in the wilderness made use of iron 
instruments, Numb. xxxv. 16; Deut. xix. 5; xxvii. 5; 
we find allusions to the smelting of iron in Deut. iv. 
20. At a later period, we read of iron axes, 2 Kings 
vi. 1 — 7; of " northern iron," in Jer. xv. 12, which 
probably means that which was manufactured by the 
Chalybes, a nation dwelling near the Euxine Sea, and 
consequently north of Palestine. Moses expressly 
speaks of the promised land as containing stores of 
iron and brass, (copper,) " a land whose stones are 
iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass." 
Deut. viii. 9. We find mentioned in the Old Testa- 
ment the following articles manufactured of iron; 

* Robinson's Greek Lexicon, s. v. Xcthwoht@st.vov, and Furst's Hebrew 
Concordance, s. v. "jptpn. 

24 



%66 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

axes, Deut. xix. 5; 2 Kings vi. 5 ; saws and harrows, 
2 Sam. xii. 31; pick-axes, Deut. xxvii. 5; pans, Ezek. 
iv. 3; spears, 1 Sam. xvii. 7; bedsteads, Deut. iii. 11; 
war-chariots, Josh. xvii. 16; Judg. i. 19; of copper, 
or brass, vessels of various kinds; pots, Lev. vi. 28; 
censers, Numb. xvi. 39; shovels and other instruments 
belonging to Solomon's temple, 2 Chron. iv. 16; "two 
vessels of fine copper, precious as gold/' Ezra viii. 27; 
instruments of war, as Goliath's armour, 1 Sam. xvii. 
5, 6, 3S; Ishbi-benob's spear, 2 Sam. xxi. 16; fetters, 
Judg. xvi. 21; and mirrors, (in the English version, 
"looking-glasses,") of which "the laver of brass" 
was made, Exod. xxxviii. 8; (doors were overlaid 
with it, 2 Chron. iv. 9.) The larger vessels were mol- 
ten, as well as the pillars, which required architectu- 
ral ornaments, and these were the work of the son of 
a foreign artist ; "King Solomon sent and fetched Hi- 
ram out of Tyre. He was a widow's son, of the tribe 
of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a 
worker in brass : and he was filled with wisdom, and 
understanding, and cunning, to work all works in 
brass." 1 Kings vii. 13, 14. Various ornaments and 
vessels belonging to the temple were also made of gold 
and silver. Ezra v. 14. Lead was also made use of 
for weights, plummets, and measuring lines. Amos vii. 
7; Zech. iv. 10; v. S. We find the following instru- 
ments of workers in metal mentioned in the Bible ; 
the anvil and the nails, Isa. xli. 7; the hammer and 
the tongs, Isa. xliv. 12 ; the bellows, Jer. vi. 29 ; "the 
fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold," Prov. 
xvii. 3; Ezek. xxii. 18. Of the operations in this art, 
we find, 1. The melting of metals, not only to reduce 
them to a fluid state for casting, but in order to sepa- 
rate and purify the precious metals from mineral sub- 
stances of inferior value, as tin mixed with silver, Isa. 
i. 22 ; Ezek. xxii. 18 — 20; the impurities, or dross, 
thus separated, are referred to in Psal. cxix. 119; 
Prov. xxv. 4, and several other passages. 2. The 
operation of casting or founding the melted metal. 
"The workman" ("melteth," our version, but more 
correctly Bishop Lowth) "casteth a graven image," 



METALS. CONCLUDING REMARKS. 267 

Isa. xl. 19; also Exod. xxv. 12, "cast four rings;" 
Exod. xxvi. 37, "cast five sockets of brass." These 
passages refer only to gold, silver, and copper. Iron 
founding is not mentioned, and indeed was altogether 
unknown to the ancients. 3. The art of hammering 
and beating into plates, Numb. xvi. 38, compared with 
Isa. xliv. 12; Jer. x. 9: "silver spread into plates is 
brought from Tarshish." 4. Soldering and nailing 
together. Isa. xli. 7. 5. Smoothing and polishing, 
1 Kings vii. 45, " bright (that is, polished) brass." 6. 
Overlaying with gold, silver, or plates of brass, Exod. 
xxv. 11, 24; 1 Kings vi. 20 — 22 ; 2 Chron. iii. 4 — 10; 
Isa. xl. 19. 

It is worthy of notice, that the representations of 
sacred history respecting the knowledge and use of 
metals in the earlier ages of the world, are strikingly 
corroborated by the information derived from the most 
ancient heathen writers. 

In Hebrew, the same word denotes copper, and that 
alloy of it with zinc, called brass ; the latter is the 
word employed in our version, though in some pas- 
sages the sense evidently requires that it should be 
translated copper. Deut. viii. 9 ; Job xxviii. 2. 



CONCLUDING KEMARKS. 

We have now finished our description of the various 
objects of natural history to which allusion is made in 
the Bible. We shall be gratified if the facts here col- 
lected from various quarters should not only afford 
temporary pleasure in the perusal, but stimulate the 
minds of our readers to the acquisition of a more ex- 
tensive knowledge of the works of God. " They are 
great," says the Psalmist, " Sought out of all them 
that have pleasure therein." Psal. iii. 2. Of course, 
the extent to which each individual may pursue these 
studies must be determined by various considerations, 



268 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

the facilities afforded by his situation in life, and a 
conscientious adjustment of the relative claims of duty. 
But it would be most injurious to the cause of religion, 
to admit that in itself the investigation of the works 
of God is at all inconsistent with the profoundest re- 
gard to the Divine word. They both proceed from 
the same Author, and both reflect his glory, though 
with unequal lustre. If by " the things that are made," 
the eternal power and Godhead of the Almighty are 
so clearly manifested, that the heathen are left without 
excuse for their impious substitution of the creature 
for the Creator, much more will the discoveries of 
modern science be fitted for the same purpose; or, if 
they fail of effecting it, so much the greater will be 
our condemnation ; the blame will rest not on scien- 
tific inquiry, but on the disposition with which its re- 
sults are contemplated. And this suggests a most im- 
portant subject for reflection, with which we will con- 
clude. What is the state of our own disposition to- 
wards the great Author of our being ? Is it one of 
friendship and conformity, or of estrangement and un- 
likeness ? This is an inquiry on which the book of 
nature leaves our minds uninformed, and our hearts 
unsatisfied. Let us turn then to that other volume, 
that " greater light" which reveals to us " God in 
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not im- 
puting their trespasses unto them." 2 Cor. v. 19. 

" Acquaint thyself with God, if thou wouldst taste 
His works. Admitted once to his embrace, 
Thou shalt perceive that thou wast blind before ; 
Thine eye shall be instructed; and thine heart 
Made pure, shall relish with Divine delight, 
Till then unfelt, what hands Divine have wrought." 

Cowper. 



THE E>D. 



tKy^ Qftffa. p**%^ 



23.1 



6 



